Word to the Wise
Sunday, July 2, 2017 - 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A [Corpus Christi 2011]
[2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16a; Rom 6:3-4, 8-11; Matt 10:37-42]SUNDAY, JULY 2, 2017 THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME [2 Kings 4:8-11; Romans 6:3-4, 8-11; Matthew 10:37-43] Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. [Romans] For years I have opened every parish mission on the first evening with the same question: "How many people here remember their baptism?" I get a chuckle or two, but there will be usually one or two who do. Either they will have entered the church at Easter through the RCIA, or they will have been a member of a church like the Baptists, who do not practice infant baptism. The point of the question is to call attention to the all too common belief that baptism is something that is over and done with like graduation, along with a certificate (diploma?) to prove it. We say, "I WAS baptized at such and such a church." We have to produce a baptismal certificate for First Communion, Confirmation, Matrimony or Holy Orders, Baptism becomes a thing of the past and not a PRESENT power at work in us. St. Paul's words today in the second scripture should alert us to the fact that baptism identifies us with Christ so that we live "in newness of life" with him as members of his Body, the Church. We have a handy reminder of this when we walk into the church. We look for that holy water font, touch the water and make the Sign of the Cross. I ask the congregation if anyone remembers to say the words that are part of that: "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Water and those words are the way in which we were and ARE baptized Christians! However, the gesture is so habitual that its meaning is easily lost. What we do inside the church we do as baptized Christians. And if we do the same gesture as we leave, it should remind us to live as Christians outside the church building as well. The Second Vatican Council sought to recover the importance of baptism as the sacrament that shapes everything that follows. Touching that holy water, making the Sign of the Cross and saying the words (a profession of faith in the Holy Trinity) reminds us that we ARE baptized and not just WERE baptized. Doing this INTENTIONALLY and not just as a ritual habit can make a difference. Try it! AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
88 ms
4
