Word to the Wise
Monday, April 12, 2010 - Monday in the Second Week of Easter
[Acts 4:23-31 and John 3:1-8]Jesus answered and said to him: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother's womb and be born again, can he?" Jesus answered, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit."
This past Saturday, I was privileged to baptize an infant grandnephew in the historic former (proto-) cathedral of the diocese of Natchitoches, LA! His father, my nephew, was the first infant I ever baptized and it was in the same place. I was still a deacon at the time (Winter 1971). The combination of continuity and re-birth was a powerful moment. My father was baptized in that same church, as was my younger brother, the grandfather of the child. The new life of grace begins in the midst of a continuity of life. Baptism was adopted early-on in the Christian community as the ordinary way of initiating new members into the community. It was not a new practice since John the Baptist was known to have "baptized" and ritual washings were very much a part of Jewish life. The Christian practice took on a different meaning, however, as St. Paul reminds us in Romans 6 when he speaks of being baptized into Christ's death and resurrection, and of dying to sin and living in Christ. This loses some of its impact when we speak of "washing away original sin and becoming a member of the Church" (even if the statement is correct). There is much that can be said about the incident with Nicodemus (coming at night and leaving "enlightened") or about the necessity of baptism, but today I simply wanted to speak to the new life of my grandnephew in the continuity of an old community and how each of those gives meaning to the other. AMEN
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