BAPTISM
 

IS

A

GIFT

                    We take baptism for granted. 

                Baptism is such a gift.

                    From a message I wrote November 22, 2000

                        before Fr. Carter's death —

                        He discerned I wrote

C. The Christian life considered as elevation of human nature

Response to God's love as elevation of human nature

In Baptism a person receives a sharing in God's life

The human person receives a new sharing in God's life

Super natural - above and beyond human nature

                     - life of Baptism

                     - life of grace

                     - Christ life

1) Elevation - new life in Him

God is triune - human intellect by itself can never arrive at that truth

WILL - LOVE

2) 1 Corinthians 10: 31

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1 Corinthians 10: 31

       Whatever you eat, then, or drink, and whatever else you do, do it all for the glory of God.

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Our life is permeated to a new level in Christ through baptism

Our intellectual capacity is elevated

We have a new power of knowing through Baptism. FAITH IS PARTICIPATION IN GOD'S KNOWING

LIFE of BAPTISM permeates all of human nature

D. The Christian life considered as the Christ-life

1) Scripture

a) Romans 6: 1-11

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Romans 6: 1-11

Baptism

What should we say then? Should we remain in sin so that grace may be given the more fully? Out of the question! We have died to sin; how could we go on living in it? You cannot have forgotten that all of us, when we were baptised into Christ Jesus, were baptised into his death. So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glorious power, we too should begin living a new life. If we have been joined to him by dying a death like his, so we shall be by a resurrection like his; realising that our former self was crucified with him, so that the self which belonged to sin should be destroyed and we should be freed from the slavery of sin. Someone who has died, of course, no longer has to answer for sin. But we believe that, if we died with Christ, then we shall live with him too. We know that Christ has been raised from the dead and will never die again. Death has no power over him any more. For by dying, he is dead to sin once and for all, and now the life that he lives is life with God. In the same way, you must see yourselves as being dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus.

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b) 2 Corinthians 4: 7-11

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2 Corinthians 4: 7-11

The hardships and hopes of the apostolate

But we hold this treasure in pots of earthenware, so that the immensity of the power is God’s and not our own. We are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never distressed; we see no way out but we never despair; we are pursued but never cut off; knocked down, but still have some life in us; always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body. Indeed, while we are still alive, we are continually being handed over to death, for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our mortal flesh.

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c) nature - pattern

              - structure

Nature is a principal of operation

Everything must respect its nature

A fish cannot come out of water and live

We must respect our nature to grow and live

2) The new life at Baptism gives us a new nature - a capacity to know and to love which we do not have without Baptism

We can do Christlike activities through the virtues of faith, hope and love, and others

3) The Christic-self

-We have a personal relationship with Jesus

- Galatians 2: 19-24

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Galatians 2: 19-24

In fact, through the Law I am dead to the Law so that I can be alive to God. I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. The life that I am now living, subject to the limitation of human nature, I am living in faith, faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not setting aside God’s grace as of no value; it is merely that if saving justice comes through the Law, Christ died needlessly.

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- Jesus has a personal unique love for me

- Christ is the mediator between God and man -

Jesus says quote -

"No one can come to the Father except through me"

John 15: 11-17

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John 15: 11-17

I have told you this
so that my own joy may be in you
and your joy be complete.
This is my commandment:
love one another,
as I have loved you.
No one can have greater love
than to lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends,
if you do what I command you.
I shall no longer call you servants,
because a servant does not know
the master’s business;
I call you friends,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
You did not choose me,
no, I chose you;
and I commissioned you
to go out and to bear fruit,
fruit that will last;
so that the Father will give you
anything you ask him in my name.
My command to you
is to love one another.

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My personal relationship with Jesus takes into account my personal uniqueness.

We can study the The Christian's Personal Uniqueness in Chapter 2 of Response to God's Love.

I am in the process of becoming, this is discussed in Chapter 3 of Response to God's Love.

Like a baby coming out of the womb, the baby develops intellectually. We develop more every day in our spiritual life to be more in His image and likeness if we stay rooted in Him.

end of excerpt from November 22, 2000

 

                Do we thank our parents if

                    they had us baptized

                Do we take it for granted —

                My God I cry to Thee to help

                    me to be so grateful

                    for the gift of baptism

                Thank God for baptism

                Thank God for the grace

                    to love the Eucharist

                Thank God for all these

                    gifts in the Church

                    handed to us

                Be thankful to God

Excerpt from the Spirituality Handbook

We, through our incorporation into Christ which occurs at Baptism, are meant to relive the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In doing so, we are not only accomplishing our own salvation, but we are assisting in the salvation of others also. The Incarnation continues all the time. Christ, of course, is the one Who fundamentally continues the Incarnation. But He enlists our help. The world no longer sees Jesus, no longer is able to reach out and touch Him. We are the ones who now, in some way, make Christ visible and tangible. In union with the invisible, glorified Christ, and depending on Him as our source of life, we continue the Incarnation in its visible and temporal dimensions. This is our great privilege. This is our great responsibility.

The Christian is initiated into the mystery of Christ, into his or her role in prolonging the Incarnation, through Baptism. In the words of St. Paul: "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by Baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." (Rom. 6: 3-4).

It is not sufficient, however, that we be incorporated into Christ through Baptism. All forms of life require nourishment. So, too, our life in Christ must be continually nourished. How can we continually keep in contact with Christ? There are various ways. We contact Christ in a most special way through the liturgy, above all in the Eucharistic liturgy. Here the entire course of salvation history, as centered in Jesus, is sacramentally renewed and continued. Through our most special and most personal meeting with Jesus in the Mass, we are more deeply incorporated into Christ. Also, we should remember that all the sacraments make up part of the Church's liturgy.

end of excerpt from the Spirituality Handbook

 

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