Feast of the Lord’s Baptism (Lk 3: 15-16, 21-22)

Receive and Live Baptism

 Introduction

-          Story of a church where there were many cats – always making disturbance to the ceremonies – many remedies were tried but failed – at last, a priest succeeded in chasing away the cats – when asked, he said, “I baptized them all…. They never came to the church again”.

-          It is sad to notice that around 30 percent of Catholics are the attending the Sunday masses. All others seem to be Christmas or Easter Catholics, coming to the church only once or twice a year.

-          Whatever it is, we cannot ignore the fact that we are baptized in water and the Holy Spirit. 

Content

-          Through baptism we received RICE.

o   R – rebirth

§  Rebirth with water and Holy Spirit.

§  Rebirth as children of God by removing the touch of ancestral sins.

o   I – Initiation

§  Initiation into catholic faith and doctrines.

§  Our uniqueness is our profession of Faith that we profess on every Sunday mass.

o   C – Consecration

§  Consecration is attached to a mission.

§  The mission of Jesus was declared in Lk 4: 18 – ‘appointed to proclaim the good news ….”. We too participate in Jesus mission, to proclaim the good news in today’s context.

o   E – Empowerment

§  Lk 12:12 – Jesus assures the help of the Holy Spirit in our life, for doing our mission.

§  We are never left alone. The same spirit who worked in Jesus is working with in us.

-          The basis of RICE is the grace of God.

o   Grace is unconditional and free.

o   It is no by the merits of us we receive the Grace, but because of the greatness of God.

-          What should be our response to our loving God, the one who filled us with Grace through Baptism, and still continuing through sacraments?

o   Obedience to the His Holy Will.

§  Jesus’ baptism was a declaration of the obedience to the Divine Will. When Jesus declared his readiness the heavens opened and Father declared that ‘he is the beloved son’.

§  When we declare our readiness to do the will of God in our life and do it in our everyday life, Heavenly Father would look at us and repeat the same words, ‘you are my beloved son/daughter, in whom I am well pleased’.

Conclusion

-          We are baptized Catholics and some us have become godparents in the baptism of our godchildren. Let us be aware of the great responsibility to live the baptism and to guide our godchildren in the ways of faith.

-          Let us be the children of God who not only received the sacrament of Baptism but also living the Baptism in our everyday lives.