Great Commission to the Apostles

My Dear Parishioners,

Our Blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, gave the Great Commission to the Apostles and their successors to “Go forth and make disciples of all nations, Baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Jesus further added: Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16: 16).

Thus, from the earliest days of the Church, we have acknowledged that the ordinary way to come into relationship with Jesus Christ is through Baptism: Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other apostles, “What are we to do, my brothers?” Peter [said] to them, “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.” (Acts 2: 37-39).

Yet, this week, we hear St. Paul write that he was not sent to Baptize. This could lead one to think that St. Paul was contradicting Jesus and rejecting the importance of Baptism. Of course, St. Paul would never contradict Jesus nor reject the importance of Baptism.

As always, context is imperative!!! It is context that helps us to understand the fuller meaning of the texts and to avoid coming to the wrong conclusions.

Our Lectionary this week omits important passages that record the fact that St. Paul was actually administering the Sacrament of Baptism in Corinth: I mean that each of you is saying, “I belong to^* Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I give thanks [to God] that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. (I baptized the household of Stephanas also; beyond that I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) (I Cor 1: 12-16)

Moreover, in his letter to the Romans, St. Paul gives us the definitive teaching of the importance of Baptism: What then shall we say? Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound? Of course not! How can we who died to sin yet live in it? 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 6: 1-5).

So, we properly conclude that St. Paul is not preaching against the importance of Baptism but is preaching against divisions in the Church. His point is that it doesn’t matter who Baptized us, but that we now belong to Christ and His Church through Baptism. Thus, he writes later in the same letter: As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit (I Cor 12: 12-13). St. Paul also repeats this call for unity in his letter to the Galatians: For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal: 3: 26-28).

I once remember meeting Bishop John Barres. At that time, he was the Bishop of Allentown. Bishop Barres had been Baptized by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. This is impressive in deed. Yet, that Bishop’s Baptism by Archbishop Sheen is no more powerful than any of our own Baptisms. Whether we are Baptized by a “celebrity” in the Church (and hopefully soon a canonized saint), or by a nobody priest who nobody remembers, we are all Baptized into the one Body of Christ. For that, we are most thankful. Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!

This past week we remembered in a special way those who have lost their lives to abortion and those who are still mourning the decision to abort a child. While Roe v Wade is no longer law, the fight is not over. Sadly, states such our own have chosen to continue to permit abortions. The fight will only be won when we have a truly Pro-Life society and when the Gospel of Life is embraced by all.

We must not just pray and work for the end of abortion. We must pray and work for the conversion of all hearts to Jesus and the Gospel of Life. To help us pray for the conversion of all, I have included a Litany of Pro-Life Saints compiled by Genevieve Perkins to guide us in praying for the conversion of hearts to Life. That is when the fight will be won.

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

Fr. Michael J Pawelko, Pastor