LIVING A SPIRITUAL LIFE


MONDAY, SECOND WEEK OF EASTER   

Acts 4:23-31; Ps 2:1-9; Jn 3:1-8

Our Spiritual Birth in Christ

To understand the immeasurable gift God has granted to humanity through the resurrection of the Son of Man, we must be spiritually aware and spiritually minded. The work of making us spiritual belongs to God alone, for as we have said in relation to the Risen Lord, no one can give what he has not. The fact that the Risen Lord gave the Holy Spirit to the fearful disciples gathered in the locked room shows that he is God. Knowing that it would be impossible for a mere human mind to conceive the spiritual gifts of heaven, most importantly, the spiritual life, the Risen Lord bestowed on them the gift of the Holy Spirit to initiate a spiritual life within them. As we read from the Gospel of John yesterday: “After saying this, he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.’” This gift of the Holy Spirit enabled the disciples to have the same life with the Risen Lord, by which he can be and act in them directly.

The Gospel reveals what the Lord taught about this heavenly or spiritual life earlier, when he interacted with Nicodemus, one of the leading Pharisees who sought him in the night. “There was one of the Pharisees called Nicodemus, a leading Jew, who came to Jesus by night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are from God; for no one could perform the signs that you do unless God were with him.” Jesus clarified his understanding of God being with him, explaining that he has brought a new way of God being with men by bringing the kingdom of God into the world; that is, men can now have a spiritual birth or be born of God. These are the words of our Lord: “I tell you most solemnly, unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” So, we enter the kingdom of God here on earth when we receive a spiritual birth. This spiritual birth became possible only after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, for the Son of Man needed to take care of sin. He did this by his crucifixion on the cross. By suffering the condemnation, which was our due, he set us free to start a new spiritual life of consecration to God. The symbol of water signifies our death to natural life and desires, while the Spirit is the principle of the new spiritual life from God. “I tell you most solemnly, unless a man is born through water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God: what is born of the flesh is flesh; what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Our profession of faith in the Risen Lord means we die his death and receive the Spirit of his resurrection as the principle of spiritual life.

Subsequently, the spiritual life is characterised by the activity of the Holy Spirit, who exercises control over all a Christian does. This is why the spiritual life is a life in the kingdom of God. Our Lord points this out when he says: “The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.” This complete control by the Holy Spirit is in what is recorded about the life of the disciples after they received the Holy Spirit. They could not listen to the religious leaders in Jerusalem who demanded they cease to speak in the name of the Risen Lord. They rather prayed to God for more grace to accomplish the divine will for the salvation of the people. “And now, Lord, take note of their threats and help your servants to proclaim your message with all boldness, by stretching out your hand to heal and to work miracles and marvels through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” Hence, the heavenly or spiritual life is received for divine purposes and not for the accomplishment of our individual desires. The misunderstanding of the purpose of spiritual life and its misdirection to personal goals are major reasons why the Christian life is not bearing any significant fruit in many of us. To receive the Spirit of Jesus Christ is to be consecrated to God alone and for the salvation of souls. It is often the case that we want to go in one direction, while God directs us to another. Our baptism means we are dead in Christ and Christ now lives in us to accomplish God’s will. As Christians, we should not be among those who want to cast off the divine yoke to do their own will, whom God mocks in the psalm of today.

Let us pray: Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we, who have been renewed by paschal remedies, transcending the likeness of our earthly parentage, may be transformed in the image of our heavenly maker. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.  

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