Monday, 8 January 2007

Baptism of the Lord

Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22

Today, as we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we are given an opportunity by the Church’s liturgical observance to reflect on the meaning of our own Baptism. The Catechism of the Church tells us that, in Baptism, we experience an outpouring of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Grace is a participation in the life of God. By Baptism, we participate in the grace of God and become “adopted sons and daughters of God.”
This sharing in the life and love of God as baptized persons and members of the Church is at once a great gift and an awesome responsibility. Since Baptism is the means of initiation into the Church, it is called the “Gateway to the Sacraments.” To baptized person is given the great joy of sharing in the life and love of God through the outward signs of the Sacraments, which Christ Himself has instituted. As Catholic Christians, the baptized are drawn ever closer to God through their participation in the life of the Church. The saving teachings of Christ are for the baptized the very rule of life.
With these tremendous gifts from the Lord comes the duty to live lives of constant gratitude. When we receive a gift, it is customary to send a thank you card, and to neglect this is socially unacceptable. So it is entirely unacceptable to take the gifts the Lord has given us without any sign of gratitude. We express our gratitude by immersing ourselves in the life of the Church, by taking every opportunity to celebrate the Sacraments…especially Reconciliation and Communion…to study the faith and delve deeply into the teaching of Christ, and to make the Church community a priority in our daily living.
We also show our gratitude by sharing what we have received with those around us, so that the world may know that we have been touched by God and changed for the better because of His presence in our lives. We are called to courageously stand up for what is good, true, and holy, no matter the cost. Baptism is not just a ceremony. It is a way of life.
As often as we take Holy Water in church and sign ourselves with the Cross of Christ, we are reminded of our Baptism, and our high calling as Christians to be witnesses of grace, calling others to the waters of Baptism, that they too may have life.