ON THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM.
DO WE KNOW WHEN OUR BAPTISMAL DATE?
HAPPY FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!
Dear friends, HAPPY FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST! Today’s feast is a great occasion for us to thank the Most Blessed Trinity for having received the Sacrament of Baptism as well.
Our day of Baptism is perhaps the most important day of our life. Our faith teaches us that upon receiving this sacrament of Christian iniitation, we receive the BAPTISMAL GRACE, which is a “rich reality that includes:
- “FORGIVENESS OF ORIGINAL SIN and ALL PERSONAL SINS,
- birth into the NEW LIFE by which man becomes an ADOPTIVE SON of the FATHER,
- a MEMBER OF CHRIST and
- a TEMPLE of the HOLY SPIRIT.
- By this very fact the person baptized is INCORPORATED INTO THE CHURCH, THE BODY OF CHRIST,
- and made a SHARER IN THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1279).”
Aside from this, the baptismal grace includes the seeds of:
- our VOCATION TO HOLINESS AND APOSTOLATE,
- of the THEOLOGICAL AND SUPERNATURAL MORAL VIRTUES,
- of the GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT;
all of which, with God’s grace, and our correspondence and struggle, are DESTINED TO GROW AND DEVELOP THROUGHOUT OUR LIFE, IDENTIFYIING OURSELVES WITH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST AND LIVING HIS LIFE, in order to reach the fullness of our life in Him, as St. Paul advised us in his Letter to the Ephesians:
“The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, UNTIL ALL OF US COME TO THE UNITY OF THE FAITH AND OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GOD, TO MATURITY, TO THE MEASURE OF THE FULL STATURE OF CHRIST. WE MUST NO LONGER BE CHILDREN, TOSSED TO AND FRO AND BLOWN ABOUT BY EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. BUT SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE, WE MUST GROW UP IN EVERY WAY INTO HIM WHO IS THE HEAD, INTO CHRIST, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. (Eph 4:11-15)”
Hence, dear friends, we must treasure the day we received our baptism and celebrate it for it was the first time that God made his dwelling in our soul and life. It is a day to renew the baptismal vows which our parents have made for us when we were children and to ask God so that we may grow more in our faith, hope and love; reject all that which separates us from Him, so that we, too, can hear the words He pronounced during Jesus’ baptism:
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased (Mt 3:17).”
-Fr. Rolly Arjonillo, priest of Opus Dei, CATHOLICS STRIVING FOR HOLINESS.
SUGGESTED DOCTRINAL READING ON BAPTISM: http://opusdei.us/en-us/article/topic-18-baptism-and-confirmation/
PHOTO SOURCE: https://a-static.projektn.sk/2015/01/Pope-Francis-baptises-one-of-32-babies-during-a-mass-in-the-Sistine-Chapel.jpg