Monday of the Second
Week of Easter
(Acts 4:23-31; John 3:1-8)
Ramon used to drink a lot.
We would say that he had a drinking problem. He might have even called himself an
alcoholic bound to nowhere except, perhaps, an early death. One day, however, he decided to stop drinking. The decision came in the midst of prayer and its
outcome was nourished by prayer. Since
that moment Ramon has never been drunk again.
In fact, he never takes a drink although he will sip the Precious Blood
when it is offered at Mass.
Such a radical turnabout seems to be what Jesus has in mind
when he speaks of being born again. He
does not intend to say that one has merely to undergo the Baptism ritual to enter
the Kingdom of God. No, he has a more
fundamental experience in mind. He means
being transformed so as to live in a completely new way. Like Ramon those who experience such a change
know that it is primarily not their doing but the work of grace. Evidently many of the baptized in the early
Church were so changed as they were preparing for the sacrament.
Then what about those of us who were baptized at a tender
age? Do we have a legitimate place in God’s
Kingdom, or are we like squatters in the park soon to be removed? Perhaps we could test ourselves. Do we see continual change for the better in
ourselves? Do we find ourselves gradually
becoming more God-like? If we used to talking
about ourselves, are we now ready to listen to those needing to share their
burden? If we used to looking at women
or men as objects of desire, are we now seeing them as God’s beloved? Such transformations are the true outcomes of
water and the Spirit.
