Kerry on being born again
There was an NPR piece this morning on John Kerry’s religious faith. Frankly, I found it a little bizarre because I’d never before heard Kerry give an indication that he has any.
It was February 4th, 1993. Bill Clinton had been President 15 days. Some 3,000 people filled the banquet room in the Washington Hilton hotel for the National Prayer Breakfast. The audience heard a reading from the Bible’s Book of Numbers. Then Senator John Kerry stepped up to the podium and turned to the Gospel of John.
“Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God.’ ” [Jn 3:1f.]
Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida, was there. “He then looked up from the Bible and spoke straight to the audience from his heart about the meaning of the Scripture.”
Kerry spoke for five minutes, without using notes, about authentic faith and the mysterious power of the spirit.
Jesus tells us that the real spiritual renewal that we need requires a faith that goes beyond even accepting the truth of his message. It requires, literally, a movement toward the person of Jesus, an attachment that requires us to live our lives in a manner that reflects the fullness of our faith and that allows Jesus to become for us truly a life-saving force.
Senator Nelson: “The audience sat there stunned, having no idea that John Kerry had the deep and abiding faith that he does.”
Many Americans would be surprised, as well. Kerry has been zealously private about his personal faith, even though it apparently has been a a major theme of his life. As a boy he contemplated the priesthood. He attends Mass regularly and is said to carry a rosary and a prayer book on the campaign trail.
Kerry’s remarks sound legit. But “a life-saving force”? 
