Tuesday of the third week in Advent: Forever Beginning

Presence

When I come into Your presence, O Lord, I know I am in the presence of my Creator. You created me out of love. You even know the number of hairs on my head. Your presence, O Lord, is the greatest gift of all.

Scripture

John 3:1-8

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by 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 do unless God is with that person.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Reflection

Nicodemus the Pharisee was a cautious man. He was nervous about being seen with Jesus and so he “came to Jesus by night.” The symbolism is powerful – Nicodemus is spiritually as well as physically in the dark. Christ’s words light a slow burning wick which will blaze into light at the most unlikely time. After the Crucifixion, when everything seemed over, Nicodemus declared himself – coming to the garden tomb bearing myrrh and aloes “about a hundred pounds weight”.
We do not decide to be born. We cannot force our own birth. It is only after we receive life that our will comes into play. Nor can we force our rebirth in the Spirit. However, that rebirth is offered all our life. In an era where action is king we must learn to receive – and receiving can be a most difficult activity.
We can, of course, refuse spiritual rebirth. We can refuse the pain of continual death and resurrection, the daily dying and rising with Christ, the daily letting go and taking on. We can concentrate on developing our body and our intellect; we can focus on what we can see and hear and touch. We can grow from babyhood to self-consciousness without ever allowing ourselves to experience God’s inner presence.
Or we can embrace continual rebirth. The 14th century Dominican theologian and mystic, Meister Eckhart, describes transformation and spiritual rebirth as a continuous event: “I would have you know that the eternal Word is being born within the soul, its very self, no less, unceasingly”. In this astonishing adventure we never age. “Know then” says Meister Eckhart, “that my soul is as young as when I was created, indeed, much younger. And I tell you, I should be ashamed if my soul was not younger to-morrow than to-day.”

Prayer

Lord, let us not be afraid of the dark. Let us welcome it as a place of revelation. Let us know that there is never an instant when you are not within us. We need have no fear of birth or rebirth, change or life or death. Instead, let us see them for what they are – as thrilling stages along a transcendent journey home.

Amen

Glory to you, Father, source of all being,

to you, Jesus, Word made flesh,

to you Holy Spirit, Comforter,

as it was before time began,

is now and shall be into the future.

Amen.