What is the meaning of our baptism?
Fr. Ron Rolheiser says
at the center of our lives there is an innate tension. On the one hand,
“something in us wants to be different, wants to stand out; from the minute
we’re born, our independence and uniqueness begin to make their protest. We
don’t want to be the same as everyone else. And this isn’t just pride or ego. Nature intended it that way. If
no two snowflakes are meant to be the same, how much more so human beings?
But, we also have
within us an equally strong desire for unity, community family and intimacy.”
As much as we want to be separate and stand out, we also deeply desire to be
connected - not out of fear but because we somehow know that our togetherness is
an essential part of God’s design and dream for us.
Since the time of
early Christianity, Baptism has been our initiation into this togetherness. In
Baptism, the “one Spirit” makes us members of the Body of Christ and of “one
another” (Our Catechism, 1267). ‘I am baptized’
says that we are part of something bigger than ourselves; each of us are an indispensable
part of the on-going incarnation of God into our world.
Alone, we are not the
Messiah, we are not perfect; we, as individuals, are not “the whole enchilada”
so to speak, but, we are also not powerless or expendable. Each of us are
unique and important pieces of God’s creation, equipped and called to make a
special contribution to the on-going revelation and redeeming action of Christ
in our world. Odd though it may be (and sometimes hard to see), we are the vehicle
of choice for God’s grace.
On the day Jesus
began his public ministry, he stood in the temple and read from Isaiah “God has
anointed me…sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to prisoners.” Then
he closed the scroll and said “today this scripture is being fulfilled.” By
God’s design, through our baptism, we have been swooped up into the Trinity
through the person of Jesus and in some mysterious way - WE play a part in this
fulfillment! WE are both the message and the messenger of this grace, we ARE
the Body of Christ bringing God’s saving love to the world - right now, this
very minute! WE are the anointed, called to heal one another by virtue of our
faith in the power of the Body to which we belong.
So what’s taking so
long? What is holding us back from living out our baptismal call to spread the
good news of God’s love for us? Maybe it’s that we still haven’t heard the news
ourselves. The image of God as a somewhat vindictive judge who meticulously
records of our every infraction still looms large in our Catholic imagination. We still don’t believe that we are loved
beyond measure and that there is nothing we have done to earn this love and absolutely
nothing we can do to lose it. Baptism is sign and symbol designed to open
us up, plunge us into this boundless love of God so that we can give what we
have received and act as compassionate agents for transformation in our
world.
One of the most
profound truths I learned as a child was that each time we dip our fingers into
the baptismal font and cross ourselves that we can with confidence hear the
words that God spoke to Jesus on his day of baptism - “This is my beloved child,
in whom I am well-pleased.” This acceptance is the very heart of the good news
that is, indeed, almost too good to be true! Nonetheless, we are bid to believe
it and to live in the freedom that this lavish love affords. The very heart of
our calling as baptized Christians is to muster the courage to accept this
acceptance and to share extravagantly, to the point of scandal, what we have
received.
Send your
"Crazy Catholic Questions" to dre@ctredeemer.org or read past columns
at: www.crazycatholicquestions.blogspot.com.
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