Pat Arensberg: Have you been born again?

“Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”  -John 3:5

I love it when people ask me if I have been “born again”.  I always answer, “Absolutely!”  They are often amazed because they were asking because they know I am Catholic.  In response their stunned silence I explain to them that I have been born again of water and Spirit.  Then I ask them, “When you were born again, was there water involved?”  Because if not it seems to me that they have not yet been born again the way Jesus describes it.

As Catholics we believe that Baptism is the way we are born again.  Jesus is very clear that we must be born again of water and Spirit.   I have also been asked, “Have you been Baptized in the Holy Spirit.”  Again, I answer, “Absolutely!”  When the priest or deacon pours water on the head of a child or immerses someone in the water he pronounces these words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  The person has then been born again of water and Spirit.  The water is the visible sign of the invisible reality of the spiritual reality.

Baptism is necessary to enter the kingdom, so what about people who die without celebrating the Sacrament of Baptism?  Is there any hope for their salvation?  Well, let us remember that God normally mediates his graces through the Sacraments, but he can give his grace without using the Sacraments (see for example Lk 23:43 where Jesus tells the Good Thief that he will be in paradise even though the man was not baptized with water in the Sacrament).  Let us also remember to very careful about this point:  the Sacraments are not optional.  We must approach the Sacraments.  It is just important to note that God can, in extraordinary circumstances, operate outside of them.  I would strongly encourage you to you the Catechism of the Catholic Church #’s 1257-1261 for more.

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About Pat Arensberg Patrick Arensberg is the Director of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Mobile. Previously, he taught for 17 years at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, where he served as Chairman of the Theology Department. He attended the Gregorian University in Rome and holds an M.A. in Theology from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He is married to Connie and they live in Mobile with their 5 children.