All We Need We Receive at Baptism
Every grace that we need to live in this world has been given to us at baptism. When we struggle it is because we fail to recognise and utilise what has been given us. Fr. Mark Michael, in his homily on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, further explained this point with a story.
A group of church members approached their parish priest with news that there was a destitute parishioner in need of dire help. The priest, hearing the terrible conditions the woman was living in, urged them to visit her as soon as possible and provide her with the assistance she needed. The group returned soon after, reporting to the priest that while there, they learnt that the woman had a son living in the United States who was doing well. They wanted the priest to inquire more about him.
So, off the priest went to pay the woman a visit and after exchanging pleasantries, he gently asked about her son. The woman, beaming with pride, shared that she had a very loving son who wrote her letters every week and sent them together with some ‘funny photos’. Curious, the priest asked if he could have a look at them and the woman obliged. Going through the contents of the envelope, the priest realised that the ‘funny photos’ were actually USD 100 bills, which over time had accumulated into quite a fortune.
Just like the woman in the story was not aware of the wealth that she had, many Catholics fail to recognise the grace and power that have been given us freely at baptism. This is how many of us fall into sinful behaviour and habits. Fr Mark cautioned that if we only keep taking, we end up becoming poor, as exemplified by the woman who kept taking all the money yet was living in squalid conditions. A Christian’s life should reflect only one thing, he stressed, “the man on the cross,”
Fr Mark went on to share four qualities that mark a Christian. A baptised member of the Church, he said, must be rooted in four elements: prayer, scripture, the sacraments, and the community. It is only when one has a firm footing in these four areas, does one truly know Jesus and thus the Church and her teachings. He added that many Catholics have a false understanding of the Church’s teachings which manifests as self-righteous and hurtful behaviours towards others. This is because their spirituality has remained at a shallow level and not flourished in the richness of grace obtained through these elements.
In baptism, the Most Holy Trinity gives the baptised sanctifying grace enabling them to believe in God, to hope in him, and to love him; to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit; and to grow in goodness through the moral virtues. Let us therefore live as the ‘new creation’ we have been made to be through baptism. (By KA)