Baptism and the Mission

Message from Fr. Jose Koluthara, CMI

Lord Jesus, empower me for the mission you gave me in baptism. Amen.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Christmas season is coming to a close this Sunday with the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. This gives us an opportunity to celebrate the gift of our own sacramental baptism. Celebrating our baptism is to be marked by a renewed resolve to embrace the mission that has become ours by virtue of our baptism into the life of Jesus and the church.

Most of us can readily recall the date of our birth as well as the birthdays of relatives and friends. Some among us also remember and celebrate feast days, i.e. the calendar date given over to honouring our patron saint. But how many of us set aside the date of our baptism for special remembrance and festivities?

Author and theologian Mark Searle (Christening: The Making of Christians, 1980) would have us mindful of the fact that for many centuries the Roman church observed the custom of celebrating the anniversary of baptism. Searle likened the day to a sort of “class reunion” for the baptized, their sponsors and the bishop. They celebrated the Eucharist together on what might be called their Christian birthday. Searle also suggested that anyone trying to rediscover the traditions related to the celebrations of Christian initiation would feel like reviving the annual celebrations of Christian baptism. In the meantime, we have this feast of Jesus’ baptism to remind us of our own.

Regarding the importance of Christian’s sacramental initiation, Raymond E. Brown once said, “The day a person is baptized is more important even than the day when a person is ordained priest or bishop.” Indeed, these other consecrations derive from and depend upon the grace that is conferred and begins to grow in the believer at his/her baptism. The Second Vatican Council declared “Through their baptism and confirmation, all are commissioned to the apostolate of the church by the Lord himself…the baptized laity are called in a special way to make the church present and operative in those places and circumstances where only through them can she (the church) become the salt of the earth”. (Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, #10,35, Nov. 1964). With these responsibilities in mind, let us also recall that just as Jesus’ baptism was the starting-point for his public ministry, so also does our baptism prepare us for service.