20150413 BAPTISM AS THE WAY TO SHARE IN THE NEW LIFE OF CHRIST

20150413 BAPTISM AS THE WAY TO SHARE IN THE NEW LIFE OF CHRIST

Readings at Mass

First reading

Acts 4:23-31 ©

As soon as Peter and John were released they went to the community and told them everything the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard it they lifted up their voice to God all together. ‘Master,’ they prayed ‘it is you who made heaven and earth and sea, and everything in them; you it is who said through the Holy Spirit and speaking through our ancestor David, your servant:

Why this arrogance among the nations,

these futile plots among the peoples?

Kings on earth setting out to war,

princes making an alliance,

against the Lord and against his Anointed.

‘This is what has come true: in this very city Herod and Pontius Pilate made an alliance with the pagan nations and the peoples of Israel, against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, but only to bring about the very thing that you in your strength and your wisdom had predetermined should happen. And now, Lord, take note of their threats and help your servants to proclaim your message with all boldness, by stretching out your hand to heal and to work miracles and marvels through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ As they prayed, the house where they were assembled rocked; they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim the word of God boldly.

Psalm

Psalm 2:1-9 ©

Blessed are they who put their trust in God.

or

Alleluia!

Why this tumult among nations,

  among peoples this useless murmuring?

They arise, the kings of the earth,

  princes plot against the Lord and his Anointed.

‘Come, let us break their fetters,

  come, let us cast off their yoke.’

Blessed are they who put their trust in God.

or

Alleluia!

He who sits in the heavens laughs;

  the Lord is laughing them to scorn.

Then he will speak in his anger,

  his rage will strike them with terror.

‘It is I who have set up my king

  on Zion, my holy mountain.’

Blessed are they who put their trust in God.

or

Alleluia!

I will announce the decree of the Lord:

The Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son.

  It is I who have begotten you this day.

Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,

  put the ends of the earth in your possession.

With a rod of iron you will break them,

  shatter them like a potter’s jar.’

Blessed are they who put their trust in God.

or

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

Col3:1

Alleluia, alleluia!

Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ,

you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is,

sitting at God’s right hand.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 3:1-8 ©

There was one of the Pharisees called Nicodemus, a leading Jew, who came to Jesus by night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who comes from God; for no one could perform the signs that you do unless God were with him.’ Jesus answered:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

unless a man is born from above,

he cannot see the kingdom of God.’

Nicodemus said, ‘How can a grown man be born? Can he go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?’ Jesus replied:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

unless a man is born through water and the Spirit,

he cannot enter the kingdom of God:

what is born of the flesh is flesh;

what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Do not be surprised when I say:

You must be born from above.

The wind blows wherever it pleases;

you hear its sound,

but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.

That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.’

BAPTISM AS THE WAY TO SHARE IN THE NEW LIFE OF CHRIST

SCRIPTURE READINGS:  ACTS 4:23-31; JN 3:1-8

During the Octave of Easter, the scripture texts were focused on the appearances of our Lord to His disciples.  This was necessary to bring out the truth of the reality of the resurrection of Christ lest we have doubts about it.  The apostolic testimony of the reality of Christ’s resurrection gives us the basis for faith in His resurrection.  But it is not sufficient to have faith in Jesus’ resurrection.  The new life given to Christ after His ignominious death by the Father who raised Him in the Spirit is not only meant for Him.  Christ received the New Life so that we too can be raised in Him.

Christ receives the New Life so that He can impart it to us as well.  How can this be done?  This was Nicodemus’s question.  He queried, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who comes from God; for no one could perform the signs that you do unless God were with him.” Jesus’ reply was, “I tell you most solemnly, unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  To enter the Kingdom of God requires that we be born from above.  Only those who are filled with the presence of God can enter the Kingdom.   In other words, to share in the resurrected life of Christ and the powers of His resurrection, we must be “born from above”.

We must be like Christ.  But how can this happen?  Nicodemus said, “How can a grown man be born? Can he go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”  Of course Nicodemus misunderstood Jesus.  Hence Jesus clarified further when He said, “Unless a man is born through water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God: what is born of the flesh is flesh; what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be surprised when I say: You must be born from above.”  How can one be reborn if not of the Spirit which takes place through baptism?

Baptism of course entails two stages, the repentance of sin followed by the forgiveness of sin, which then prepares for the reception of the Holy Spirit.  This explains why on Easter Vigil when we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, we also administer the Sacrament of Baptism.  Indeed, more than any time of the year, the most appropriate time to be baptized is during the Easter Vigil, for it is on this night that we re-enact the passage to new life by following the Israelites in walking through the waters to the Promised Land.  Through the waters of baptism, we are washed of our sins and through the same water, the Holy Spirit is given to us and we receive our adoption as God’s children, sharing the inheritance of Christ.

Hence, baptism is entry to the Kingdom Of God.  By renouncing our sins, we deny Satan’s hold over us.  Instead, we make Jesus our Lord and our King.  Ruled by Christ in the same Spirit, we are now citizens of Heaven, members of His body and adopted children of God.  In this way, we share the resurrected life of Christ in this life, even whilst still living in our body.  But after our sojourn on this earthly life, we will no longer die but live forever with the Lord and in Him.  Such a life is of course a life of love, joy and unity.

But what justifications do we have to claim that the resurrected life, which is ours only at the end of this life, has already been given to us as a foretaste?  How do we know that the Spirit of the Risen Lord is with us? And that we are living this new life?  Precisely, Jesus says, “The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.”  In a nutshell, we know that the Spirit is with us and that the Lord has risen in us through the effects of the Spirit in us. What would be some of these effects?

Firstly, the power to do what Jesus did.  We remember that in the earthly life of Jesus, He promised His disciples that those who believe in Him will not only perform the same works as He did but “will perform even greater works”  (Jn 14:12).  Indeed, the apostles performed miracles in the name of Jesus through their works of healing and exorcism and even raising the dead to life.  That was what they prayed as well, “And now, Lord, take note of their threats and help your servants to proclaim your message with all boldness, by stretching out your hand to heal and to work miracles and marvels through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”  They never doubted that God would not act in and through them because of their faith in the name of Jesus, the only Son of the Father.

Secondly, a Christian is one who has overcome his slavery to sin and made Jesus the Lord of his life.  Jesus reminded us that “everyone who commits sin is a slave.  Now the slave’s place in the house is not assured, but the son’s place is assured.  So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (Jn 8:35-36).  With the grace of the Holy Spirit, sin no longer has a hold over him.  Indeed, baptism brings about the forgiveness of sins and although concupiscence remains a struggle in each person, yet so long as a person clings on to Christ through prayer and communion, he will find the necessary grace and strength to resist the temptations of the Evil One.

Thirdly, because a Christian shares in the freedom given to him by Christ, he no longer lives a life of fear or anxiety about his life on earth.  He is able to face death even, for he knows that having been brought back to true life with Christ, he must “look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand.”  That explains why the apostles, although without education and status in society, could stand tall before the Sanhedrin, for they knew that they belonged to the Lord and are children of God.  So with this confidence, they could proclaim the gospel boldly without fear of threat and intimidation whatsoever.  That was the case of St Stephen who when being stoned to death for his forthright reprimand of the Jewish leaders, “gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand”.  Truly, for those of us who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, especially at the Sacrament of Confirmation, we, too, have been given the same Spirit to proclaim Christ to the world and be part of the work of evangelization; an obligation and a mission given to the Church.

Finally, the sure proof of the Risen Lord living in us is when we are assured of His divine assistance, just like the way He protected the apostles. When under persecution, they prayed, “Master, it is you who made heaven and earth and sea, and everything in them; you it is who said through the Holy Spirit and speaking through our ancestor David, your servant:  Why this arrogance among the nations, these futile plots among the peoples? Kings on earth setting out to war, princes making an alliance, against the Lord and against his Anointed.”  Note how the apostles cited Psalm 2:1-2 on the fidelity of God to His Anointed, King David, and had it extended to Jesus and then to themselves who are now the anointed ones of God, since they had been christened in Christ at their baptism.  Truly, at baptism, we have been anointed to share in Christ’s kingly, prophetic and priestly power.  We are now the anointed ones of God in Christ.  As such, we can now be sure of the Father’s fidelity and protection in our lives.  We no longer fight sin and evil in this world alone.  And even when we are persecuted, we can be certain that God will be faithful to us, just as He was in His fidelity to David and Jesus, the Anointed Son of God.  By raising Him from the dead, He too will raise us to life with Him.  So as free men and women, let us live as such so that non-believers will know that Christ lives in us.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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