29 April 2019
Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church
Many of the conversations which are written in the Gospel according to John require time and patience to contemplate. However, a good commentary with a little explanation of the Gospel’s original language also helps. In response to Nicodemus’ address of Jesus as one who has come from God, Jesus tells him that “Unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (Jn 3:3) Nicodemus’ next question about how an old man can be ‘born again?’ may strike the contemporary reader as odd. Jesus did not say, ‘born again’, he said ‘born from above’, right?
Well… in Greek, there is one word for both ‘from above’ and ‘again’ (anothen), and both seem to be important for Nicodemus to contemplate, and for us as we consider the gift of faith which we have been given through our Baptism, and in which we rejoice especially during this Easter season.
Faith does not simply allow our lives to be as they would have been without this gift from the Lord. Faith, trust in our Beloved who loves us more than we can possibly imagine, makes our life new. It has led to us not only being born into a life in which we eat bodily food and grow in terms of feet and inches. Rather, our second birth of water and Spirit places us in a life with Christ, in which our minds and hearts are fed with nourishment of the Word of God, in which our lives grow in the charity that His Will guides us to show to our neighbors whom He places in our lives. If we were only born once, only born for this world, we could be content with the repast of fine dining and the wisdom of prudent self-interest. But as Christ tells us, “You must be born from above.” (Jn 3:7) This new life, this second birth is also a birth from above. Our desires now exceed what earth below can give us. Our hearts’ cravings can only find satisfaction in living by heaven’s standards. Self-interest is too little. God’s interests alone now are to capture our thoughts and imaginations. St. Catherine talking about walking in this charity (which alone can satisfy us) writes, “we love as much as we see, and our vision is perfect to the extent that the light is perfect.” She exhorts us to turn to the sun of justice, to Him “who enlightens everyone who wants to be enlightened by him. In his light we see light.” Nicodemus comes to Christ at night, the night of this world. But what Christ promises him is life in a new world, in which even though one be surrounded by this world’s darkness, one would be living in a far greater world’s light. Let us ask the Lord to increase our hunger for the nourishment He promises, for that light of faith, which alone can satisfy us with what the eyes of our heart long to see.