William Barry and William Connolly write in their book “The Practice of Spiritual Direction” That “there is something in us that resists change and development, that wants wives or husbands, friends, companions to be the same tomorrow as they are today. At the same time, there is something in us that wants to know more about the other and is bored by sameness.”
In today’s Gospel we have Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night. We know that he is a Scribe which implies that he has studied well the law. He is from a group of people whose frame of mind always rejected Jesus’ teachings as heretical and blasphemous. Yet something about Jesus’s teachings and message draws him to Christ, to seek to know more about him. On the other hand, we see Nicodemus struggling to grasp the concept of Spiritual rebirth. Is Nicodemus making difficulties or does he want to understand and follow Jesus? Jesus is only asking him to change his life by embracing transformation and renewal. He must have a new birth for a new perspective in his life.
Transformation requires us to engage in a process of becoming more like Christ, it involves a profound change in character, behavior, and perspective to be well aligned with God’s will. One must become Christ like and be guided by the Holy Spirit. This is the message that Jesus presents to Nicodemus. It is a message that requires Nicodemus and all of us to reflect deeply on the necessity of spiritual rebirth and the transformative power of faith in Christ. This rebirth is not just a physical one but a spiritual conversion that leads to new life in Christ. Rebirth here signifies a spiritual transformation where we renounce our old ways, and we are made new through faith in the Lord.
This process of transformation cannot be physically controlled or manipulated. Rather, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus mentions that the wind blows wherever it pleases. We all know that wind movements are unpredictable and beyond our control. In the gospel Jesus seems to be saying to Nicodemus and to us that the Spirit of God is not something we can control.
We do not take the Spirit where we want it to go; the Spirit takes us where God wants us to go. All we can do is surrender to the birth of the Spirit within us and around us, to allow the Spirit to direct us and lead us. Nicodemus’s confusion underscores the point that we can’t rely solely on human understanding to comprehend spiritual truths. We need faith, we need spiritual insights and openness to God’s teachings.
As people who have been renewed with or given a new life through Jesus’ resurrection can we embrace Christlike attitudes and actions, fostering empathy, practicing honesty, cultivating healthier relationships and using individual gifts to strengthen those we encounter in our lives. Guided by the Holy Spirit, daily prayer and reflections, and engagement with scriptures will help us navigate challenges, embrace renewal, and grow spiritually.