Jesus engages in a profound conversation with Nicodemus, a pharisee and teacher of Israel, who still gets confused by Jesus’ words, “You must be born again.” His confusion mirrors our human limitations in understanding divine truths. Today, we usually see this as a dialogue centered around spiritual birth, symbolized by being “born again.”

Saint Peter Julian Eymard seems to grasp the meaning of Jesus’ words as shown in his Personal Retreat Notes (NR 44,119): It is as if the Saviour were saying: by sending me through the Incarnation, the Father cut off all roots of self-seeking, not giving me the human person, but uniting me to his divine person. Thus, through communion, you will live for me, for I will be alive in you. I will fill your soul with my desires and with my life, which will consume and annihilate all that is proper in you, so much so that it will be me who will live and desire everything in you instead of you. And so you will be clothed with me. You will be the body of my heart; your soul, the active faculties of my soul; your heart, the receptacle, the movement of my heart. I will be the person of your personality, and your personality will be the life of mine in you.

Being “born again” is a spiritual awakening wherein we experience a radical change – transforming from our old selves to new creation in Christ. For Father Eymard, encountering Christ in the Eucharist had the power to transform hearts – for it is an intimate encounter with divine love. When we allow this divine love to take over our whole being, we will be born again, but it will not be our old self but Christ who lives in us.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, deepen our faith in your Eucharistic presence. As we receive you, unite our hearts to yours, nourish us by your love, and transform us by your grace. May our hearts be always open to the mystery of the Eucharist. Amen.