Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. As St. Augustine says, Jesus made holy the waters of baptism for us. Now imagine if we had something like weather radar to show us what happens to our souls when we are baptized. I have often wished that we could visualize the rush of sanctifying grace that floods our souls at that moment. Jesus heard the words of his Heavenly Father say, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” In baptism our souls are transformed by grace, freed from original sin and brought into the family of God by this spiritual adoption. Truly, we are changed. No longer isolated from God, his divine life begins the ceaseless work of transforming us into the image of his Son, Jesus.
What if we were to honor our baptism and the salutary graces it brought to our souls. What if we were to start acting like baptism is a big deal, because it is! Fundamentally, our lives were reoriented toward God and his grace and favor began to rest upon us. What if we could visualize God’s tremendous love for us as his beloved sons and daughters. Would that we might live with great confidence in the words of St. Paul who said, “Nothing can separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:39) Like weather radar, if we could visualize that power of grace at work in the waters of baptism, we would be amazed at such saving grace! We would not hesitate to have our children baptized because of the tremendous gift that it is, orienting our lives to Jesus.
As part of getting back to the basics in our spiritual life, recall that everything started with our baptism. Through baptism, we became adopted sons and daughters of God our Father. When a person is adopted, they are made part of the family and gain access to an inheritance. Baptism gives us a right to the inheritance, which in spiritual terms is eternal life in God’s kingdom. We who have been baptized have become rich in God’s grace and favor.
Baptism gives us a new dignity as beloved sons and daughters of God. We symbolize that dignity with a white garment. In this way we are able to visualize the purity of our souls as they are set free from sin. But we know that gradually, that white garment takes on the stains of sin and its glory becomes tarnished by our sins. Imagine, then, if like weather radar, we could see not only the outward effects of sin but also the gradual debilitation of our souls through sin. The longer we remain in sin might look something like a permanent storm on radar that is stuck over us and doesn’t move. Imagine if we could graphically see that tarnishing take place. Perhaps then we might be more eager to go to confession and receive the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus that makes us whole again, giving the white garment of our baptism a new glory.
When Jesus heard the Father say, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” there was no greater dignity and esteem that he could receive. This is also true for us. Too often we let our sins define us and tell us who we are. The evil one loves nothing more than to convince us that we are hopeless losers in the Christian life. He tries to convince us that we are beyond hope and that we may as well find fulfillment in the pleasures of this life. Nevertheless, when we are discouraged because of our sins, we ought to return to the fact that because we are baptized in Christ, we too, are his beloved sons and daughters. God never “throws us away.” We never lose our Christian dignity, no matter how far we may stray.
So again, if we are beloved sons and daughters of God, we ought to act like it. First, we ought to enjoy God’s grace and favor. We ought to celebrate our Christian dignity, that we have been chosen for a life of faith that begins with baptism. We are cherished by the Lord. Imagine where your life would be if you were living right now without the grace of baptism. If you were baptized as an infant, thank God that someone (most likely your parents) valued the gift of faith in Christ so much that they wanted that for you. If you chose to be baptized, thank God you were enlightened enough to seek this precious gift. Parents should desire Baptism as the most valuable gift they could give their children because it makes possible eternal life. No other gift, no matter how valuable on this earth, can afford us the gift of eternal life.
Another way we cherish our baptism is to intentionally live by a life of faith. It is to honor God as sovereign Lord of our life. It is by spending time in conversation with the Lord, praying every day for the graces we most need from God. Then it is by extending our faith in the world, by loving our neighbor, serving others in their need and doing whatever we do for others as though we are doing it for Christ our Lord. To act like we have been baptized means that we put faith first. And when we put God first in our lives, he upholds his end of the covenant with his blessing, protection, and favor.
The next time you check out weather radar, ask the Lord to give you a glimpse of the condition of your soul. The more we strive to honor and serve the Lord, the more the storms of life dissipate before us!
