{"id":3277,"date":"2021-04-11T21:07:16","date_gmt":"2021-04-11T19:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/predication.net\/?p=3277"},"modified":"2021-04-11T21:07:17","modified_gmt":"2021-04-11T19:07:17","slug":"baptism-is-the-sacrament-of-rebirth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=3277","title":{"rendered":"Baptism is the sacrament of rebirth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
We have completed the Easter octave of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. We will spend the Easter season until the Feast of the Sending of the Holy Spirit, which is the fiftieth day after the Lord Jesus’s resurrection. We will talk about the Easter season’s current topic, and that is the sacrament of baptism.<\/h2>\n
When Jesus met Nicodemus, Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say this: Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (Jn 3: 5).<\/h2>\n
This third head of the Gospel of St. Johan. We can also call John the Apostle “baptismal catechists,” teaching about the sacrament of baptism. He himself visits Jesus and talks to him, the conversation makes him so impressed that he comes again after Jesus under cover of darkness, and so we can say that this is where the faith, which was aroused by the miracles of Christ, begins in him. Nicodemus was a man longing for the truth. He sees, and therefore he tries to dedicate Nicodemus to the mystery of salvation. This was what Nicodemus was about because otherwise, he would not even call Jesus a teacher. Through rebirth from the water and the Holy Spirit, that is, with the help of the sacrament of baptism, there is a new birth, a new life – the supernatural. At first, Nicodemus mistakenly thinks that this is something absurd – not born. However, this is not a matter of physical rebirth but of spiritual rebirth with water, which is a symbol of life. This visible sign – the baptism of rebirth – means that the Holy Spirit awakens in the baptized a new life, a new principle of life, namely sanctifying grace. This is how the physical person becomes spiritual, that is, filled with the Holy Spirit.<\/h2>\n
We believe Christians speak of dual existence; that is, we have obtained a spiritual existence from our parents. This act is a matter of faith. It’s a secret to us. However, in the surrounding nature, we see various secrets, such as the wind blowing where it wants, without our consent. Likewise, the Holy Spirit opens the way for us to a new life without our intervention. To be born of the Holy Spirit is to receive God’s inspiration and to believe in God. Only when a person decides to receive the Holy Spirit in faith does a person without his merits be reborn by the Holy Spirit. This means that we can receive baptism only once in our lives, but the grace that began at baptism can be multiplied, regained, in the sacrament of reconciliation, when we put our conscience in order.<\/h2>\n
It follows that we must constantly strive to renew the baptismal grace we have received, to increase it constantly, that is, to grow spiritually. We know that Nicodemus did not understand this at the first encounter with Christ. He left that night, and yet it was a significant night not only for him but also for us because as the moment came with Nicodemus, after death, Christ would stand in not only the council but also Pilate himself would ask for the release of the dead body of the Lord Jesus.<\/h2>\n
Even in our lives, we had experienced the moment when we were willing to give up not only many things, events, and people for our spiritual growth, but we also found that what is not connected with Christ has no value or meaning for us. Let us often remember the value of our baptism. Let us remember gratefully for the parents, the godparents, and the priest who baptized us because at that time, he gave us a great treasure that opens the gates of heaven. Let us pray for ourselves that we will never lose our baptismal grace.<\/h2>\n
At this Easter time, may our awareness grow that we have been born again to new life through baptism.<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"