You Have Been Born Anew

May 28, 2008

Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

By Melanie Rigney

Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth for sincere brotherly love, love one another intensely from a pure heart. You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of God … (1 Peter 21-22)

Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as ransom for many. (Mark 10:43-45)

Piety

Lord, thank You for the gift of imperishable life through Your word. Thank You for being with me as I grow in service to You and my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Study

Today's Readings

Catholic Education Resource Center

We’ve been “born anew,” Peter tells us in today’s first reading. In the Gospel reading, Jesus explains our role in that new life as one of service, not of pride and luxury.

But what exactly does “born anew” mean to us as Catholics? Surely, most of us at one time or another have been asked if we’ve been born again or if we’ve accepted Christ as our personal lord and savior. In broad terms, the fundamentalists who ask these questions are talking about a specific conversion experience in which one accepts Christ as Lord and asks for forgiveness. Some contend that this new birth comes only through accepting the Gospel, not through being baptized, and add that their new birth is based on faith alone, not works.

How, then, do we answer this question beyond saying that we are born again in baptism? Ignatius Press President Mark Brumley provides the groundwork for thoughtful dialogue on the subject in an article that originally appeared in The Catholic Faith and is available at the Catholic Education Resource Center:

The Catholic … then, should do more than simply point to his baptism; he should discuss his living faith, trust and love of Christ; his desire to grow in sanctity and conformity to Christ; and his total dependence on Christ for salvation. These are integral to the new life of the Holy Spirit that baptism bestows.

Brumley also notes that the Church’s teachings do not oppose a conversion experience for adult baptism; it’s simply that our teachings just require it:

What is required for baptism to be fruitful (for an adult) is repentance from sin and faith in Christ … The man who is baptized may not “feel” any different after baptism than before. But once he is baptized, he has received the Holy Spirit in a special way. He has been regenerated and made a child of God through the divine sonship of Jesus Christ in which he shares. He has been buried with Christ and raised to new life with Him. He has objectively and publicly identified himself with Jesus' death and resurrection. If the newly baptized man meditates on these things, he may or may not “feel” them, in the sense of some subjective religious experience. Nevertheless, he will believe them to be true by faith. And he will have the benefits of baptism into Christ nonetheless.

Developing a fuller knowledge of and appreciation for our Church’s beliefs can open up intelligent interfaith dialogue. For if we are unable to articulate the Church’s position on an issue on which faiths differ, how can we expect non-Catholics to fully understand why we believe as we do?

Action

Use your study time this week to research the background of the Church’s position on a misunderstood issue—being “born again,” for example, or perhaps the concept of purgatory. Sit down for coffee or dinner with a non-Catholic to discuss—not debate—what you each believe and why.