by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
As we read about Jesus’ baptism in today’s Gospel (Luke 3:15-16, 21-22), let us reflect on our own baptism and on what it means to be baptised into the Catholic Church.
Our Catechism (1213) tells us that “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit…and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons and daughters of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: ‘Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word’.”
Jesus did not need to be baptised since he was free from sin. However, in the same way that He chose to be born humbly in a stable, His humility is once more apparent by his decision to be baptised by John the Baptist in the River Jordan just before he began his public ministry.
Link the Gospel reading with the words in our Catechism (535 – 537): “The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God’s suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’. Already he is anticipating the ‘baptism’ of his bloody death. Already he is coming to ‘fulfil all righteousness’, that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father’s will: out of love he consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. The Father’s voice responds to the Son’s acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in his Son. The Spirit whom Jesus possessed in fullness from his conception comes to ‘rest on him’. Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind. At his baptism ‘the heavens were opened – the heavens that Adam’s sin had closed – and the waters were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation (CCC 536).
“Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. The Christian must enter into this mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father’s beloved son in the Son and ‘walk in newness of life’…”(CCC 537).
Through the wonderful gift of baptism we are united in Jesus, but baptism is not enough to keep us close to our Lord. Prayer must be a vital part of the life of a baptised Catholic. Note that Jesus prayed after he was baptised. St Thomas Aquinas tells us in Summa Theologiae, III, q. 39, a. 5: “…after Baptism man needs to pray continually in order to enter heaven; for though sins are remitted through Baptism, there still remains the inclination to sin which assails us from within, and also the flesh and the devil which assail us from without.”
Through Baptism Christ calls us to live holy lives; to follow in His footsteps. This is a lifelong journey. But we do not journey alone. Each of us has a duty to encourage others to do God’s will; to live as true witnesses of Christ. Love of God and of neighbour demand that we reach out to others.
As Pope Benedict XVI reminds us: “The Church, who welcomes them (the baptised) among her children, is responsible, together with the parents and godparents, for accompanying them on this path of growth. The collaboration between the Christian community and the family is much needed in the current social context in which the institution of the family is threatened from many sides and finds itself faced with many difficulties in its mission to teach the faith… it is necessary that parishes increasingly strive to support families, the little domestic Churches, in their work of passing on the faith. ”
I invite Catholic professionals and members of the Catholic business community to register for the Workshop on Cardinal Turkson’s guidelines, Vocation of the Business Leader: A Reflection, on Saturday, January 19, 2013, Bishop Mendes Auditorium, Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church, Harris Promenade, San Fernando, from 9 a.m. to 12.15 p.m. followed by lunch.
Email: olphworkshop@gmail.com or ring Helen on 652-2269 or 313-0109. Come and learn how to link your faith with your daily lives. Speakers include Msgr Christian Pereira, Fr Clyde Harvey, and Fr Matthew D’Hereaux.
