The Joy of Baptism

Have you ever wondered what really happens when we are baptized? Do you remember your baptism, or perhaps a baptism you witnessed? We know that water is poured, words are prayed, oil is used to anoint. And upon completion of the ritual you can feel a genuine joy in the people who witnessed the event. What might that joy be about? Perhaps it is born out of the promise of Jesus Christ that we are baptized with the Spirit.

Perhaps the joy is a result of the realization that we now belong to God. It may be, that the joy we feel is the grace received in the sacrament; for baptism is an outward sign of inward grace. God’s life in us because he has claimed us as His own!

They say it takes a lifetime to “live into” our baptism. That is an interesting statement; to think that our formation as a Christian can take a lifetime. It is testament to our on-going, ever developing relationship with God. You see, baptism is not just something that happens in the

moment as the water is poured or as a person is anointed. Baptism calls a person to an everlasting relationship with our Creator. As we live our lives with Christ as our model, we “live into” our baptism.

I challenge you on this day when the Church commemorates the Baptism of the Lord to reflect on these questions:

• How has being baptized formed me to be the person I have become?

• How would my life be different if I had not been baptized?

• Who ought I to thank for the gift of the Sacrament of Baptism?

Our faith assures us that if we live our lives as Christ teaches, then the words written in sacred Scripture speak not only of Jesus Christ but of each one of us: “And a voice came from the heavens, ‘You are my beloved; with you I am well pleased.’” There is the joy! There is the promise that we indeed belong to God!

Blessed be your day,

Deb Rudolph