BORN AGAIN IN JESUS

FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD

23 JUNE 2024   SUNDAY  X11

WORD of the DAY 

Brothers and sisters: The love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all,
so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh,
yet now we know him so no longer. So, whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Cor 5: 14-17)

How shall I live this Word?   

“… if one is in Christ, he is a new creature”: this is the gift of our faith! With Baptism we are in Christ, grafted into this gift of Love that makes us new creatures. Paul sees every reality, every situation with the eyes of faith because in Christ he became a new creature. In Christ we, like Paul, are new creatures. It is Christ himself who enables us to love, to forgive, to be instruments of reconciliation and peace. “… old things have passed; behold, new ones have been born.” The old man is nailed to the cross with our sinful nature. Now we are new, saved, liberated creatures through the Cross of Christ. This is why we can live according to the Spirit who dwells in us and has inserted us into Christ through Baptism. Therefore, let us free the new person within us. How often do we live as if we were not already liberated, slaves of the old one. Are we aware of all this?  By discovering we are loved, we can let ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit-Love, gradually free ourselves from our ego to become men and women free to realize ourselves in paths, projects of Love-gift, Love-service.

In a pause of silence, I think back to my Baptism and to the gift received. Lord, give me the awareness of being a new creature because I am already liberated by You.

The voice of Pope Francis  

If one is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are past; behold, new ones are born» (2cor 5:17). The encounter with Jesus Christ changes you from within, it person makes you a new person. If one is in Christ, he is a new creature, this is the sense of being a new creature. Becoming a Christian is not putting on make-up that changes your face, no! If you are a Christian, it changes your heart. But if you are a Christian only of appearance, this does not go… fake Christians are worthless. True change is of the heart.

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