Baptism Yr. C

Switching families

I heard this the other day and I liked it, what would you have to do to get yourself into my family? Like all the way into my family? Like getting into the will so that you would receive the same inheritance as me and my siblings?!?!? Pretty much absolutely nothing!!!! (i mean, that’s within good morality)

Do you think its easier to get into my family or into God’s family?

With everything I’ve said, its probably easier to get into my family! (Isn’t this a promising start to a homily?!)

Unless…Unless the parent throws out an invitation, by their decision can one enter into a new family.  Think about adoption…

Personal Judgment

It’s like, think of that moment when you come before God at your personal judgment. You aren’t going to be able to do anything. God will look at you and see your whole life. He will see any sins that you have since your last confession. “Woe to the person that dies in mortal sin”… He will see the state of your soul and it’s lightness or darkness, and He will ask, “what do we do about this?” And you will have practiced your whole life saying, “I offer you the body and blood soul and divinity, of your only begotten son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.” It’s a free gift, you didn’t earn it, you don’t even deserve it! But he offers it freely to you.

Freedom

To be a Christian means to be free, it means to accept the promise and the responsibilities. But you never cease to be free.

But being free and going through hardships can coexist. For example, what happened to Christ when he got baptized? He went to the desert to fast and pray and then get tested by the devil.

A) getting baptized isn’t easy street. But it is union with God. “I didn’t promise it would be easy, I promised I’d be with you”

B) the Jordan is the place of prophets, priests and judges.

JBap, Elisha hand Elijah

Carrying the ark

Joshua the judge entering into promised land. Ps 104:1b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30

I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness. (Is 42:6-7)

Born not of flesh and blood but of God!

John 1 says that there would be people who are born of God, not just a flesh and blood. That’s the completion of someone giving birth to another is a hope that they would be baptized, to be made into Sons & Daughters of God. Now, Ive so often seen, in my short time as being a priest, that so many people, even newly married Catholics, are not obviously different from the way the world thinks. For example, “I would like to have a few kids, not too many.”

Marriage and Vocation

This is not a Christian understanding of marriage, marriage is a vocation which means that you serve the will of God in a particular way. And there are many ways to be parents and many ways to decide how you spend your life and your day and to allow grace to impact your life, but, it should look Christian and because the world is so secular a Christian marriage should look very different. One of the ways that it could look different is the openness of life, the lack of contraception within a marriage and the encouragement of other families who are having kids. For example, I’ve run into moms who tell me that it’s hard even in church to have a lot of kids because people look at them funny, Catholics look at other Catholics funny and say “are you done yet?” We don’t have kids for ourselves, it’s not like it’s easier.

Because a marriage binds two people together and to any children born of that union. Marriage is ordered for the procreation of children and to unite the couple, which is further ordered to promoting the Gospel.

Never ever are children convenient.  My vocation isn’t based around convenience.  Being a priest isn’t convenient.  My children, you all, don’t and aren’t supposed to just call or need to talk when life is perfect.  I get that.  But that’s because its a vocation and not about what I want.  Our baptism puts us into the water with Christ where He says, “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him,” because now you are my son, my daughter, in Christ.

Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered in the house of Cornelius, saying:  “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Acts 10:34

But our life here isn’t made for comfort or ease, but for bearing the cross, and doing the Fathers Will, that you and I don’t deserve heaven but through grace through Christ coming and blessing all the waters and giving us a share, to die with him in the waters so that we might live with him. We aren’t guaranteed heaven, we’re just guaranteed of God‘s love for us if we but except his love. There must be a difference between us and the world. Our baptism is the beginning of our new life in Christ and through a baptism we receive our vocations and are opened to the highway of grace that God has for us. But it means us asking the question and asking the questqion frequently, “what do you want me to be Lord? regardless of the cost, whatever you ask of me even my very life, it’s yours because I’ve died with you in baptism with the hopes of rising with you.”

Because why be Catholic then?