BAPTISM:  Part Two

 

          “And I’m standing here with my baptism in my hands

            wondering what to do with it.”

          (from Seasons of Your Heart by Macrina Wiederkehr)

 

In the early Church Baptism was a life and death commitment.  If you were reported to the authorities for being a Christian, this could mean imprisonment, torture and/or death.  And, lest we think this was something that only happened a long time ago, it is happening today around the world, and especially in Iraq where Christians are being threatened and sometimes killed.  (A Christian archbishop in Iraq was kidnapped and killed several weeks ago; my congregation--Adrian Dominican--presently has six young Iraqi Dominican sisters staying with us for their safety.) .

 

We are blessed to be able to live and practice our faith in safety but that should not diminish what Baptism may ask of us.  At each Easter Vigil and at all the Masses on Easter Sunday we are invited to renew our own baptismal commitment once again. At St. Joseph’s Vigil service a few weeks ago (an amazing and Spirit-filled evening!) I and my fellow worshipers  stood with lighted candles and enthusiastically responded “Amen” to the challenge to again reject Satan, all his works and empty promises, We once again professed that we believe in a triune God, in the incarnation, in the gift of the Holy Spirit, in “the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.”

 

And now, blessed and renewed in our commitment, where do we go from here?  In an editorial in a recent issue of the National Catholic Reporter, the author proposed that “Baptism leads to ministry”. No longer is ministry something that priests and sisters do; rather, Baptism authorizes EACH OF US to minister to one another and to the world.  As ministers of Christ, our everyday activities are blessed, perhaps through offering someone a ride to the doctor, or babysitting, or a visit or phone call to an elderly shut-in, or providing a listening ear or an encouraging word to someone in need.

 

The author goes on to say that personal ministry will, hopefully, lead to community ministry.  Concern for the hungry and homeless led a group years ago to distribute sandwiches in downtown Santa Cruz and this eventually developed into St. Francis Soup Kitchen which today serves 150-200 persons daily. Concern for the less fortunate led St. Joseph parishioner Gay Pollock to begin a ministry to persons with disabilities, a ministry that continues to flourish within and beyond the parish.

 

“We read with admiration about others engaged in important ministries—to returning Catholics, to clinics and mental health care for the uninsured and under-insured, in shelters for abused women, in meal programs, in special theater groups.  We admire, but why not imitate?  Each in our own way, in our own space, big or small, is called to ministry.”

 

Baptism, a gift and a privilege, is also an awesome responsibility.

          “I’m standing here with my baptism in my hands wondering

            what to do with it.”

 

Sister Marie, O.P.