Word to the Wise
Sunday, January 20, 2008 - Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Isaiah 49:3, 5-6; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; John 1:29-34]Now I have seen and testified, that he is the Son of God.
Isaiah, Paul and John the Baptist all have something very important in common. They saw themselves as people called for God's purpose. They were certainly not the first to believe that nor were they the last. Otherwise the church would have disappeared centuries ago. In fact, every Christian is called to be an instrument of God's salvation by virtue of their baptism. Over the centuries, however, Baptism lost a lot of its evangelical meaning, in no small part because of the emphasis on infant baptism and original sin. Yet there are powerful words in the ceremony of the sacrament that "commission" all of us who are baptized to participate in the mission of Christ. Yesterday (Saturday, Jan 19) I anointed Thomas Hayes Goscienski on the forehead with chrism after pouring water over his head. In that anointing, I said, "as Christ was anointed priest, prophet and king, so may you live as a member of his body bearing witness to the faith by what you say and do." I also handed a lighted candle to his parents as a symbol of the faith and admonished them to keep the light of faith burning brightly in the life of Thomas Hayes. Parents are indeed instruments of salvation for their children. Our faith is not just a private possession. It is something that requires some stewardship. It is meant to be shared. We can't just leave it to the pages of the bible and hope others will read about it and come to believe. We may think it strange that God might call us to a divine purpose, but so did Isaiah, Paul and John the Baptist. We, like them, are called "to put skin on" the faith. We have seen and now we must testify. AMEN
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