The Beauty, The Power, And The Necessity Of Baptism

My Dear Parishioners,

Jesus is so good, so loving. He loves us so much that He mounted the Cross for our sake and our salvation. He loves us so much that He allowed His side to be pierced for our sake and our salvation. He loves us so much that He allowed blood and water to flow from His pierced side. The blood and water representing the “wellsprings” of salvation: the Sacraments the Most Holy Eucharist and of Baptism.

During the Easter Season, we especially remember the beauty, the power, and the necessity of Baptism.

Jesus Himself spoke of the necessity of Baptism: Jesus answered and said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born^* from above…   I say to you, no one can enter the

kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (John Chapter 3). The Risen and Glorified Jesus then gave the Great Commission to Baptize: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew Chapter 28).

 

The Blessed Apostles taught of the power of Baptism. St. Peter taught: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.” He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day (Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2). St. Paul added: “Or 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. For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection (Romans Chapter 6).

How powerful is the Sacrament of Baptism? Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we have forgiveness of sins, we become temples of the Holy Spirit, we become children of God, we become brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, we become sharers in the Resurrection and heirs of Heaven, we are made worthy to receive the other Sacraments.

How beautiful is the Sacrament of Baptism?  St.

Cyril of Jerusalem teaches:

You were led down to the font of holy baptism just as Christ was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb which is before your eyes.

Each of you was asked, “Do you believe in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit?” You made the profession of faith that brings salvation, you were plunged into the water, and three times you rose again. This symbolized the three days Christ spent in the tomb.

As our Savior spent three days and three nights in the depths of the earth, so your first rising from the water represented the first day and your first immersion represented the first night. At night a man cannot see, but in the day he walks in the light. So when you were immersed in the water it was like night for you and you could not see, but when you rose again it was like coming into broad daylight. In the same instant you died and were born again; the saving water was both your tomb and your mother.

Solomon’s phrase in another context is very apposite here. He spoke of a time to give birth, and a time to die. For you, however, it was the reverse: a time to die, and a time to be born, although in fact both events took place at the same time and your birth was simultaneous with your death.

This is something amazing and unheard of! It was not we who actually died, were buried and rose again. We only did these things symbolically, but we have been saved in actual fact. It is Christ who was crucified, who was buried and who rose again, and all this has been attributed to us. We share in his sufferings symbolically and gain salvation in reality. What boundless love for men! Christ’s undefiled hands were pierced by the nails; he suffered the pain. I experience no pain, no anguish, yet by the share that I have in his sufferings he freely grants me salvation. (Jerusalem Catechesis of St. Cyril)

Let us say continual prayers of thanksgiving to God, through Jesus, that He allowed us to be Baptized. Let us also offer prayers of thanksgiving for those who brought us to the font of Baptism and for the priest or deacon who Baptized us.

Let us also encourage the parents in our lives to get their children Baptized, so that they too can share in the beauty and power of Baptism.

St. Joseph, our Patron and Patron of the Church, pray for us!

Fr. Michael J. Pawelko, Pastor