There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother's womb and be born again, can he?" (Jn 3:1-8)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041723.cfm
“Misunderstandings” (some would say irony) are a rhetorical device in the Fourth Gospel, for example “born from above.” Note the phrase that Jesus uses is NOT “born again.” “Born again” is the misunderstanding on the part of Nicodemus which leads to the teaching of Jesus in this dialogue. We are born from above.
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Monday, Week II, Easter
