Rebirth. The value of baptism.

Time flies fast for you, too. We have finished the Easter Octave of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. We will live the Easter season until the feast of the Sending of the Holy Spirit, which is on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

When Jesus met Nicodemus, he said: “Truly, truly, I say this: Unless someone is born of water and … of” (Jn 3:5). The third chapter of the Gospel of St. John can also be called “baptismal catechesis” that is, instruction about the sacrament of baptism. We were helped by Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish council, an educated, respectable man, who is not satisfied with what the preachers bring to the board about the teachings of Christ, the itinerant teacher, but visits Jesus himself and talks with him. He is so impressed by the conversation that he comes to Jesus again under the cover of darkness. And so we can say that this is where the faith that Christ’s miracles awakened in him begins. Nicodemus was a man who desired the truth. Jesus sees this and tries to initiate Nicodemus into the mystery of salvation.And this was precisely what Nicodemus was concerned with because otherwise he would not have even called Jesus a teacher. In their conversation, we learn, thanks to Nicodemus, that entering the kingdom of God is possible only through rebirth from water and the Holy Spirit, that is, with the help of the sacrament of baptism. This means that there is a new birth, i.e., a new life – supernatural. Nicodemus first mistakenly believes this is absurd – to be born again in the body. However, this is not a physical rebirth, but a spiritual one with the help of water, a symbol of life. This visible sign – the baptism of resurrection means that the Holy Spirit awakens in the baptized a new life, a new life principle, namely sanctifying grace, and it is through this that the carnal person becomes spiritual, i.e., filled with the Holy Spirit.

As Christians, we speak of a dual existence, that means we have also received a spiritual reality from God. This act is a matter of faith. It’s a secret for us. However, we see various secrets in the surrounding nature, for example, the wind that blows where it wants without our consent. The Holy Spirit also opens the way to a new life for us without our intervention. To be born of the Holy Spirit means to receive the inspiration of God and to believe in God. Only when a person decides to accept the Holy Spirit in faith, then a person is reborn by the Holy Spirit without his merits. This means that we can receive baptism only once in our life, but the grace that began at baptism can be multiplied, and regained, in the sacrament of reconciliation, when we put our conscience in order. It follows us that we must constantly try to renew the baptismal grace we have received, to keep increasing it, that is, to grow spiritually. Nicodemus did not understand this at his first meeting with Christ.

Let us often remind ourselves of the value of our baptism. Let us gratefully remember our parents, godparents, and the priest who baptized us because then he gave us a great treasure that opened the gate of heaven. Let us also pray for ourselves, so that we never lose our baptismal grace.