Jn 3, 1-6 Be born of water and Spirit

John 3

(Jn 3, 1-6) Be born of water and Spirit

[1] Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. [2] 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." [3] Jesus answered and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." [4] Nicodemus said to him, "How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother's womb and be born again, can he?" [5] Jesus answered, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. [6] What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit.

(CCC 728) Jesus does not reveal the Holy Spirit fully, until he himself has been glorified through his Death and Resurrection. Nevertheless, little by little he alludes to him even in his teaching of the multitudes, as when he reveals that his own flesh will be food for the life of the world (Cf. Jn 6:27, 51, 62-63). He also alludes to the Spirit in speaking to Nicodemus (Cf. Jn 3:5-8), to the Samaritan woman (Cf. Jn 4:10, 14, 23-24), and to those who take part in the feast of Tabernacles (Cf. Jn 7:37-39). To his disciples he speaks openly of the Spirit in connection with prayer (Cf. Lk 11:13) and with the witness they will have to bear (Cf. Mt 10:19-20). (CCC 1238) The baptismal water is consecrated by a prayer of epiclesis (either at this moment or at the Easter Vigil). The Church asks God that through his Son the power of the Holy Spirit may be sent upon the water, so that those who will be baptized in it may be "born of water and the Spirit" (Jn 3:5). (CCC 1215) This sacrament is also called "the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit," for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one "can enter the kingdom of God" (Titus 3:5; Jn 3:5). (CCC 1316) Confirmation perfects Baptismal grace; it is the sacrament which gives the Holy Spirit in order to root us more deeply in the divine filiation, incorporate us more firmly into Christ, strengthen our bond with the Church, associate us more closely with her mission, and help us bear witness to the Christian faith in words accompanied by deeds.