The
Baptism of Our Lord
Is
40:1-5, 9-11; Titus
2:11-14, 3:4-7; Luke
3:15-16, 21-22
My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
“My father abandoned his wife and four children when I was young. I
never saw him and never heard from him and until I was 18 I believed he was
dead. When Aunt Emma, my father’s sister, told me he was alive, I was
astonished. I gave her my graduation picture to give to him, and hoped he would
contact me. He never did. Later, when I committed my life to Jesus, I developed
a relationship with Him and knew His love. Yet I was afraid of God the Father.
Knowing Him as a tender and loving Father seemed impossible. One day I learned
that my father had died. My deepest prayer to meet him would not be fulfilled.
I felt an enormous hurt, and visited Aunt Emma. She told me a little about his
life and death, and said he decided not to see me because he was too ashamed of
his behaviour as a young father. He must have known, through her, that for 17
years I had asked about him. I stood near his grave engulfed in anguish. My
search was over. This was as close as I would ever get to my father. I cried
out to God, ‘It’s too late, too late! I have no father!’ At that point I heard
a voice say, ‘I am your Father.’ I turned around but no one was there. Again I
heard the words, this time softer. ‘I am your Father.’ It was hard to believe
at first, but the God I had feared spoke to me. I felt His love surround me.
Because God revealed Himself to me as Father, I no longer feel the hurt of an
abandoned child, nor the pain from my fruitless search. I was healed so that
only the memory and none of the pain remains. That afternoon in the lonely
cemetery changed my life. Where God was once only a remote figure of the
Trinity, He is now the Father I talk with, walk with, and praise each day. I
realize this wonderful Father loves all His children so much that He
impatiently awaits the day that He can draw us close to Himself forever.”
(Taken from Healing Through the Mass pages 24-25 by Robert DeGrandis, published and copyright 1992 by Resurrection Press and used by permission of the publishers.)
Just as our heavenly Father spoke to Doris, our Father
also spoke on the day Jesus was baptized, “This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour
rests on him.” Because we are baptized we are beloved sons and daughters of
God. Just as the Father said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on
him” when Jesus was baptized, the Father said over us when we were baptized,
“This is my beloved son, this is my beloved daughter.” On the day we were
baptized we were changed forever. Imagine, you became a son or daughter of God
on the day you were baptized, enjoying a new relationship with our Father. It
was because of her baptism that Doris benefited from this beautiful
relationship with her heavenly Father. We don’t think enough about our baptism,
this most important event in our lives. If we reflected more on who we are
since baptism how different we would be, how differently we would live.
The Sacrament of Baptism emphasizes this new
relationship with our Father. Though the sacrament of Baptism removes our
Original sin, it emphasizes more becoming a child of God and a member of the
Church. That is why after baptism at the font, four signs in the sacrament
symbolize for us this new relationship with God. If you listen to the prayers
accompanying these four symbols they tell us about our new relationship with
God.
Ø
Firstly the child is anointed with the oil of chrism. This is
the holy oil used by the bishop to anoint us on the forehead during
Confirmation and to anoint the hands of a priest during his Ordination. Part of
the prayer for the anointing during baptism is, “As Christ was anointed Priest,
Prophet and King, so may you live always as a member of his body, sharing
everlasting life.”
Ø
Secondly the white garment is put on the child. Part of the
prayer accompanying putting on the white garment is, “…you have clothed
yourself in Christ. See in this white garment the outward sign of your
Christian dignity”.
Ø
Thirdly a lighted candle is given to the parents, a symbol of
receiving the light of Christ. Part of the prayer accompanying this is, “This
child of yours has been enlightened by Christ.”
Ø
Fourthly the ears and mouth of the child are blessed because
they will hear the Word of God and the child will profess his/her faith.
Being baptized as children would make no sense and
have no meaning if as we grew up we didn’t put our baptism into effect, if we
didn’t live like people who have been baptized into the Catholic Church. I
would like to remind here to the parents and the god parents the promise that
you gave during the baptism of your children. The priest asks the parents in
the following way: You have asked to have
your children baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of
training him/her in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring
him/her up to keep God and our neighbour. Do you clearly understand what you
are undertaking? And the parents and the god parents say: “Yes, we do”. Now is the time for you my
dear parents and god parents to reflect and see whether you truly fulfilled or
fulfilling your duty towards your children as you have promised to God during
their baptism. Once again I would like to remind you that it is your duty to
bring your children up in the practice of the Catholic faith.
Dear friends, Our baptism when we were children would
have been senseless if we did not decide
for ourselves as we grew up that the decision made for us by our parents was in
fact what we ourselves also wanted for ourselves. There is one occasion above
all others during the year when we proclaim that what our parents did for us
was what we also wanted, that is during the Easter Vigil when we renew our
baptismal vows. Every sacrament has a lasting effect, our baptism was not just
a magic formula recited over us by the priest to wash off original sin and give
us a chance of getting to heaven. Baptism is like Ordination and marriage, it
is something to be lived every day. When we were baptized it is as if the
Father said over us as he said over Jesus, “This is my beloved son, this is my
beloved daughter.” Doris was privileged to experience this in a dramatic way.
The rest of us live every day knowing God is our Father and we are his sons and
daughters since we were baptized.
AMEN.
Fr.
A. Christopher, HGN
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