BAPTISM, IMPORTANCE OF

Importance of Christian Baptism
 Christian baptism is one of two ordinances that Jesus instituted for the church. Just before His ascension, Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19–20). These instructions specify that the church is responsible to teach Jesus’ word, make disciples, and baptize those disciples. These things are to be done everywhere (“all nations”) until “the very end of the age.” So, if for no other reason, baptism has importance because Jesus commanded it.

Baptism was practiced before the founding of the church. The Jews of ancient times would baptize proselytes to signify the converts’ “cleansed” nature. John the Baptist used baptism to prepare the way of the Lord, requiring everyone, not just Gentiles, to be baptized because everyone needs repentance. However, John’s baptism, signifying repentance, is not the same as Christian baptism, as seen in Acts 18:24–26 and 19:1–7. Christian baptism has a deeper significance.

Baptism is to be done in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit—this is what makes it “Christian” baptism. It is through this ordinance that a person is admitted into the fellowship of the church. When we are saved, we are “baptized” by the Spirit into the Body of Christ, which is the church. First Corinthians 12:13 says, “We were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” Baptism by water is a “reenactment” of the baptism by the Spirit.

Christian baptism is the means by which a person makes a public profession of faith and discipleship. In the waters of baptism, a person says, wordlessly, “I confess faith in Christ; Jesus has cleansed my soul from sin, and I now have a new life of sanctification.”

Christian baptism illustrates, in dramatic style, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. At the same time, it also illustrates our death to sin and new life in Christ. As the sinner confesses the Lord Jesus, he dies to sin (Romans 6:11) and is raised to a brand-new life (Colossians 2:12). Being submerged in the water represents death to sin, and emerging from the water represents the cleansed, holy life that follows salvation. Romans 6:4 puts it this way: “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

Very simply, baptism is an outward testimony of the inward change in a believer’s life. Christian baptism is an act of obedience to the Lord after salvation; although baptism is closely associated with salvation, it is not a requirement to be saved. The Bible shows in many places that the order of events is 1) a person believes in the Lord Jesus and 2) he is baptized. This sequence is seen in Acts 2:41, “Those who accepted [Peter’s] message were baptized” (see also Acts 16:14–15).

A new believer in Jesus Christ should desire to be baptized as soon as possible. In Acts 8 Philip speaks “the good news about Jesus” to the Ethiopian eunuch, and, “as they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?’” (verses 35–36). Right away, they stopped the chariot, and Philip baptized the man.

Baptism illustrates a believer’s identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Everywhere the gospel is preached, people are to be baptized.

".....NOR THE SON" (Mt. 24, 36)

                                       ……..nor the Son” (Mt. 24, 36)

II. “As to the end of the world, do not enquire when it will come, for it is not a question fit to be asked, for of that day, and that hour, knoweth no man; it is a thing at a great distance; the exact time is fixed in the counsel of God, but is not revealed by any word of God, either to men on earth, or to angels in heaven; the angels shall have timely notice to prepare to attend in that day, and it shall be published, when it comes to the children of men, with sound of trumpet; but, at present, men and angels are kept in the dark concerning the precise time of it, that they may both attend to their proper services in the present day.” But it follows,neither the Son; but is there any thing which the Son is ignorant of? We read indeed of a book which was sealed, till the Lamb opened the seals; but did not he know what was in it, before the seals were opened? Was not he privy to the writing of it? There were those in the primitive times, who taught from this text, that there were some things that Christ, as man, was ignorant of; and from these were called Agnoetae; they said, “It was no more absurd to say so, than to say that his human soul suffered grief and fear;” and many of the orthodox fathers approved of this. Some would evade it, by saying that Christ spoke this in a way of prudential economy, to divert the disciples from further enquiry: but to this one of the ancients answers, It is not fit to speak too nicely in this matter—ou dei pany akribologein, so Leontius in Dr. Hammond, “It is certain (says Archbishop Tillotson) that Christ, as God, could not be ignorant of any thing; but the divine wisdom which dwelt in our Saviour, did communicate itself to his human soul, according to the divine pleasure, so that his human nature might sometimes not know some things; therefore Christ is said to grow in wisdom (Luke 2:52), which he could not be said to do, if the human nature of Christ did necessarily know all things by virtue of its union with the divinity.” Dr. Lightfoot explains it thus; Christ calls himself the Son, as Messiah. Now the Messiah, as such, was the father’s servant (Isa. 42:1), sent and deputed by him, and as such a one he refers himself often to his Father’s will and command, and owns he did nothing of himself(John 5:19); in like manner he might be said to know nothing of himself. The revelation of Jesus Christ was what God gave unto him, Rev. 1:1. He thinks, therefore, that we are to distinguish between those excellencies and perfections of his, which resulted from the personal union between the divine and human nature, and those which flowed from the anointing of the Spirit; from the former flowed the infinite dignity of his perfect freedom from all sin; but from the latter flowed his power of working miracles, and his foreknowledge of things to come. What therefore (saith he) was to be revealed by him to his church, he was pleased to take, not from the union of the human nature with the divine, but from the revelation of the Spirit, by which he yet knew not this, but the Father only knows it; that is, God only, the Deity; for (as Archbishop Tillotson explains it) it is not used here personally, in distinction from the Son and the Holy Ghost, but as the Father is,Fons et Principium Deitatis—The Fountain of Deity.

PETS IN HEAVEN

PETS IN HEAVEN ?

The Bible does not give any explicit teaching on whether pets/animals have “souls” or whether pets/animals will be in heaven. However, we can use general biblical principles to develop some clarity on the subject. The Bible states that both man (Genesis 2:7) and animals (Genesis 1:30; 6:17; 7:15, 22) have the “breath of life”; that is, both man and animals are living beings. The primary difference between human beings and animals is that humanity is made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27), while animals are not. Being made in the image and likeness of God means that human beings are like God, capable of spirituality, with mind, emotion, and will, and they have a part of their being that continues after death. If pets/animals do have a “soul” or immaterial aspect, it must therefore be of a different and lesser “quality.” This difference possibly means that pet/animal “souls” do not continue in existence after death.

Another factor to consider regarding whether pets will be heaven is that animals are a part of God’s creative process in Genesis. God created the animals and said they were good (Genesis 1:25). Therefore, there is no reason why there could not be pets / animals on the new earth (Revelation 21:1). There will most definitely be animals during the millennial kingdom (Isaiah 11:6; 65:25). It is impossible to say definitively whether some of these animals might be the pets we had while here on earth. We do know that God is just and that when we get to heaven we will find ourselves in complete agreement with His decision on this issue, whatever it may be.

FAMILY ENTERPRISE

Our Family’s Enterprise

God has made the FAMILY the fundamental block of society as no other. The family satisfies the basic need for relationship, cooperative endeavour and imaginative projects. The more successful a family is in terms of these dynamics, the more benefits it generates for the human community. A thriving society is a clear indication of healthy family living. This redounds to the glory of God who is the original family, also known as the Holy Trinity – the original model of relationship and fruitfulness. The measure of a family’s faith in the Holy Trinity will articulate the family’s success in the spheres of the moral, social and economic. This demands that the members of the family are constantly endeavouring to think and act unitedly, powered by noble motives and drawn by the goals that are beneficial for themselves and society at large. Were every family vibrant with the best values and traditions proper to their respective religious cultures, one can well imagine the happiness and contentment of the society they comprise.

We worship the God of hope, the source and reason for the future prospects of our family. We look to the elders to show us the way of committed cooperation and a joyous consistency in our undertakings for an ever brighter future of every members of the family. We are blessed with hope since God is there, assuring us of a secure future.

Our trust in each other gives us the confidence to be faithful today as we move forward in the pathways of our tomorrows. We pray that by God’s grace and enablement each succeeding generation will accept the torch with enthusiasm for the enhancement of out enterprises to His glory and the good of society.

PRAYER, CONDITIONS FOR

The Conditions for Prayer

            Prayer demands a certain amount of external quietness and detachment. A noisy environment is a hindrance to prayer. The internal condition for prayer is characterised by attention, reverence, trust, and perseverance. External attention is secured by the avoidance of disturbing activities that block the mind’s positive application to the meaning of the text or formula or to the divine truth or even the divine presence. Such internal attention should preferably be actual, that is to say, it should aim at factual, on the spot attention to the content of prayer or God’s presence. However, it is sufficient to have a virtual attention, i.e. a persistent intention to pray despite momentary, involuntary distractions. For vocal prayer it is sufficient that attention is directed towards God in a general way, as it is generally not possible to attend to the meaning of every word we say. True devotion and the intention to pray are not destroyed by involuntary distractions. Besides, the state of external composure and the continued recitation of prayer formulas are apt to lead the mind back to conversing with God. In themselves, involuntary distractions are not sinful. Sinful are voluntary or deliberate distractions or they are at least an imperfection. Being voluntary, they cut into the intention to pray and thereby imply irreverence to God. A deliberately induced distraction or fantasy can well be gravely sinful if it leads to a mistake in confecting a sacrament, since the latter can thereby be exposed to invalidity. We are distracted because we are still attached to created things and to accustomed images, or the mind is preoccupied with even legitimate concerns.

            The problem of distractions at prayer is a perennial one. The radical cure is self-denial and a deeper attachment to Jesus Christ. One can also transform distractions to the good. (cf. Gasper M. Koelman, Sparks, Pune 1976, pp. 106-110). Distractions are irritating and ubiquitous insects that one can apparently do nothing about. However, we can not only render distractions harmless but also possibly make them useful matter for prayer!  For example, the thought of hurts suffered from people can make one recall the sarcasm and venomous remarks of the Pharisees and lead him to noble and benign motivations. Pleasant distractions would make one think of something joyful in the life of Jesus and how he wants us to be happy with a joy complete (cf. 1 Jn 1, 4). Present worries and future anxieties need not weigh down a person who can refer these to the carrying of the Cross or to Christ weeping for his people. The agony of Gethsemane, the scourging and the cross can replace the oppressive memory of past sins. The Gethsemane sadness can be lit up by the hopeful dawn of Easter, while the spirit-draining weight of discouragement can send one marching to Emmaus and to the joyous recognition at the breaking of bread. Like insects, distractions are God’s creatures. “Everything God created is good; nothing is to be rejected when it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by God’s word and by prayer” (1 Tim 4, 4). “Welcoming these uninvited visitors and joining hands with them in prayer, readily including these trifling items of our life (those especially we view as unimportant) will enable us to integrate in Christ everything that is genuinely human. His light will fall on hidden corners of our life, we’ll muster greater strength for our daily struggles; even humdrum occupations, dispositions of all sorts will become the incarnating matter of our life of grace. Christ will share in all our feelings, will be present at our games, will accompany us on picnics; he will be at our side when working, playing, resting; with us he will be thinking of the friends we fondly love, and he will share our dread of persons whom we would not meet” (Gasper M. Koelman, op. cit. p. 108).

Reverence is another condition for prayer. As an aspect of humility, it is the attitude towards God as the “mysterium tremendum”. In practice, it consists in suitable comportment, acknowledgement of sinfulness and insignificance, and an internal respect for God’s holiness and will, which is incompatible with deliberate adherence to mortal sin. This should not discourage sinners from praying, provided they do so with a desire for conversion and sanctification. Prayer, to be valid and worthwhile, must change our lives. Reverence must be blended with trust, an attitude characterised by confidence in God’s goodness and fidelity. A trustful person has no fear or reservation to place himself in the hands of God.

            In impetratory prayer, it is presumed that the petition is morally good and somehow related to salvation, thereby coming under the purview of the virtue of Hope. Thus the petition envisages God’s kingdom, eternal salvation, spiritual and temporal goods in the service of eternal values. Everything is left to God’s discretion in the certainty that God will not abandon his children.

PRAYER PROBLEMATIC

The Prayer Problematic The range of the problematic of prayer is from a radical rejection to a serious endeavour to arrive at profound prayer. As a consequence of denying God, the atheist declares that prayer is absurd. Strangely enough, some believers in God consider it their duty to reject prayer by reason of the divine sublimity. Since God is unchangeable in his fullness, nothing can affect him: neither the prayer of praise as he does not need our glory, nor the prayer of petition since he cannot change his decision. Prayer, therefore, is only for our human consolation and, as such, is something self-centred. For example, we have stopped praying for rain and good weather. Such prayers were once the “oratio imperata” of the official liturgy. In the case of illness, if the medicine works, prayer was not needed. If the person recovered after hope was abandoned, it could have been an act of God. But could one prove that it was due to prayer? Some people say that from all eternity God arranged things in two groups. One group of things is fixed, like the workings of natural creation. The other group is conditional, that is to say, the events take place provided prayers were offered for them to happen. Now, since for God everything is in the present, he has arranged the events with the foreknowledge that prayers would be offered for them in historical time. So where does this leave us?

 We have to keep on praying for an event to happen in the hopes that this is one of the events which God had predetermined but made it conditional to our prayers which he foresaw. Such a highly mechanistic explanation can lead to ridiculous situations. The person praying will always want to know if she has prayed sufficiently and intensively enough to fulfil the conditions attaching to the favour or for precipitating the event! As a result, for many people the best way to answer the problem of prayer (at least of petition) is to reject the impetratory prayer altogether. They maintain that scientific or technological man should be able to confront his own needs without having to degrade himself by invoking another’s aid. He should help himself by making use of his God-given faculties without having to degrade God by bringing him down to the level of attending to the desires of man. The Spirit need not be domesticated!

An Answer to the Problem

            The best answer to the problem of prayer is to approach it from the angle of the theological virtues. But first let us consider a few other definitions of prayer. (Cf. J. Giallanza, “But What do You do”, in Review for Religious, January 1981).

a)     A dialogue with God, with one of the persons of the Blessed Trinity, and, by analogy, with the saints. This is a strongly psychological definition. Dialogue presupposes that two people are talking. Prayer can also be silent, as one can praise God and glorify his incomprehensibility by a silent adoration. Dialogue can be presumptuous, especially since both the speakers are not on the same level.

b)    According to St. John Damascene, prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God. This is a mind-will definition and, as such, is incomplete in itself, unless it includes the fact that God, out of his loving liberality, has called man through creation via the orientation of the human spirit towards himself (God) and through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Prayer, therefore, recognises God’s initiative as it expresses man’s response to God’s call.

c)     St. Thérèse of Lisieux: “For me, prayer is the upward leap of the heart, the untroubled glance towards heaven, a cry of gratitude and love which I utter from the depths of sorrow as well as from the heights of joy. It has a supernatural grandeur which expands the soul and unites it with God.” The movements, “leap”, “glance”, “cry” are the person’s own activities in prayer. The description would be incomplete without the presupposition of the complete dependence on God for all activities, indicated by the “supernatural grandeur which expands the soul…”

d)    “In my opinion,” says St. Teresa of Avila, “mental prayer is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” Here the activity of “sharing” necessitates “taking time frequently” for a mutual dialogue as between friends alone. Hence, an intimate dialogue that is exclusive. This is the friendship model of prayer.

e)     According to St. John of the Cross, “Contemplation is nothing else than a secret and peaceful and loving inflow of God, which, if not hampered, fires the soul in the spirit of love.” “Inflow of God” is primarily an action of God, a movement from God to the person praying. There seems to be here a passive openness to divine love, and having the qualities of “secret, peaceful and loving.” But the effect is to be fired with love.

A Comprehensive Definition of Prayer

            Prayer is the most elementary religious act. It is the maintenance and development of the supernatural life we received in Baptism. Specifically, it is the maintenance, development and articulation of the theological virtues. God has infused the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Love into us. Prayer is our primary and most elementary collaboration with God in his continuous action of infusing the virtues. It is the act of the whole person; otherwise it would degenerate into mere enquiry and study on the one hand, and, on the other, a blind movement of abandonment to the immutable decisions of God. Mere abandonment to God’s providence in prayer would ignore its dialogic character. Abandonment may stress one truth, namely, the immutability of God (which, taken in isolation, would mean that prayer is impossible or unneeded) and forget the other, namely, that God is personally concerned with our affairs. The immutability of God must not be reduced to a proposition that can be manipulated in the usual categories of human thinking. It must be kept open for the truth of the Incarnation and Crucifixion, for the truth that God “changes” for the sake of man. This is the only possible underpinning of the dialogical character of prayer.

            If prayer is considered as the living reception (articulate or inarticulate) of the theological virtues, then, as such, it answers all the difficulties of the prayer problematic. Silence, for example, is an inarticulate form of receptivity; yet no one can deny its profound existential. The believing Christian who has received the gift of Faith at Baptism prays that he may continue to remain open to this precious self-gift of God as the supreme Knowable and all that he reveals in his Son through the Church. The believer will further express the joy of receiving this gift by acts of faith, adoration, praise and thanksgiving. Here the dialogue is complete. It is evident that prayer helps the expression of our receptivity to divine Love. Here prayer consists of acts of love for the supreme Lover and the joy of being possessed by the Holy Spirit. Finally, the problem of impetratory prayer is answered if prayer is also seen as expressively receptive of theological Hope, which is founded on God’s faithfulness to his promises. This includes the promise of salvation that is evoked in every cry for mercy.

Prayer, an Imperative?           The importance and obligation of prayer can be understood from what we have said above. Lack of prayer would dry up or atrophy our receptivity to the continuous infusion of the theological virtues or the supernatural action of God. Prayer keeps us open to the supernatural virtues and articulates them. Add to this the obligation of man to worship and praise God in definite ways, the primary way being prayer. Jesus Christ, by word and example, is the norm for prayer. Mt 26, 41: “watch and pray.”  Mt 17, 21: certain demons are cast out by “prayer and fasting.” As exemplar, Jesus spent much time communing with his Father. Jesus often addressed his Father before the crowds and the disciples in prayer formulas of thanksgiving and praise. Cf. Mk 1, 35; Mt 14, 23; Lk 6, 12. According to St. Paul and St. James, the argument for prayer is the same as for worship, prayer being the most elementary form of worship. Cf. Rom 12, 12; Col 4, 12; Jas 4, 2; 5, 13.

            The theological reason for prayer can be resumed in its necessity for salvation. In order to be saved one must possess sanctifying grace. Ordinarily, adults do not receive grace unless they ask for it and are receptive to it, cooperate with and dispose themselves for it. These conditions are seen to by prayer. In general, the omission of prayer for a considerable time results in sin. It is a matter of life and death for each individual and for the whole Church to learn how to pray and to help one another in the life of prayer in order to transform all life into adoration of God. In a special way this applies to all priests who by vocation are meant to lead the community in prayer; and unless he maintains a wholesome prayer life he would be a hollow reed producing empty sounds. If prayer is to become a virtue, and virtue is understood as the felicitous ease for doing our duty, then prayer should be the weave of our daily life; nothing artificial or formal but as normal and regular as breathing. If men and women did not pray at specifically determined times at morning and evening, they would soon forget to pray altogether. A life without prayer is the perfect path to perdition.

Flying Self-centredness

“I am thoroughly distracted, thoughts rushing to and fro like commuter trains on a busy platform. I can’t concentrate. My mind is like a marketplace, bombarded by destructive feelings. Memories of the past and images of persons who have hurt me stream into my consciousness, leaving me angry and frustrated. This time of praying could be better utilized doing something more practical.” Such sentiments summarise what many people would describe as their prayer. While that is true, they need not settle for it, because this negative experience is an indicator that something has gone amiss and needs to be corrected. Call it what you like, but actually this is a form of depression resulting from easy-going ways, decreasing vigilance, and carelessness of heart. Basically they have their roots in egoism or self-centredness. The person is not really seeking God but the consolations expected from him, some rest or security or a feeling of well-being. This is how religion goes off the rails: expecting God to fit into our plans and schedules, trying to tame and domesticate the Holy Spirit. When these do not happen, the selfish person is easily persuaded to abandon prayer as useless.

            On the other hand, the humble person is not taken aback, for he knows the frailty of his nature. In fact, the experience of dryness leads to acts of greater trust and willingness to learn the meaning of faith as constancy in the Lord, our rock and stronghold. Perseverance is the key. Not looking for success, not giving up, because it is that fidelity that will enable us to look back later to see how in fact we have grown in the awareness of God. Prayer is a struggle with oneself. And why not? In every sphere of life’s development, don’t we have to face challenges? Every area of life has its disappointments, apparent uselessness and periods of depression. So why not in the sphere of prayer, which embraces every dimension of our life? We are on to genuine prayer when we perform the routine tasks of our lives so as to perceive in them that our lives are not little, anonymous or trivial, but that what is timeless, eternal, is in the ordinariness of things.

            Perseverance must lead to the prayer of quiet and stillness in the Lord, like the psalmist who describes himself as a weaned child on his mother’s lap (Ps. 131, 2). The time passes quickly and one feels at one with God and with one’s fellow human beings and creation. One desires nothing more than being with the Lord. Consider these two seven-syllable mantras: “It’s good to be with you, Lord.” “May I be with you forever.” From now on, prayer is a window of wonder, light and joy; God is perceived as pure transparency and tenderness.

Not a movement towards a distant God but a sinking into a deeper awareness of one’s own life and to find God already there, more intimate than our most intimate self. Now all desires fade away, except the desire simply to be. To be present to the music of what happens, of seeing more and more profoundly, and of being amazed. What used to be a loving gaze on God is reciprocated by God’s gaze upon us, “amazed” as he is at the incarnate shape of love’s divine face that each one of us is.

“God wants us to sit for him, not that he may paint our portrait, but that he may paint his own – within us” (Daniel O’Leary, in The Tablet, 17 May 2008, pg. 15).

GIRL CHILD, INTERNATIONAL DAY OF

GIRL CHILD, International Day of

Introduction to the Eucharist

With affectionate concern and hopefulness we today would like to focus on the GIRL CHILD. Not only would we invoke God’s blessing on his girl children but, by his grace, we commit ourselves to protect them at every stage of their life, contribute our share to their educational, cultural and physical development. The scenario today is a dismal one. In circumstances of utter poverty, girl children are pushed into the flesh trade by heartless adults, pressed into bonded labour by creditors and landowners, even forced-trained to be girl soldiers by terrorist groups. How many girl children are marked out for dowry deaths and the horror of bride burning is a heart rending tale, oft repeated in our country. And the entertainment industry manoeuvres many little girls into certain roles that leave them devastated and bereft of their childhood. This was not the way the Creator wanted it. This was not the way our Saviour Jesus Christ, whose ministry was characterised by the affirmation of life, the imparting of health, and the gift of joy and harmony. And this is also what we want to happen in our time and will make happen. So with hopefulness for the future of the world’s girl children, we ask our Heavenly Father to allow us and our concerns into the mysteries of Jesus, that we are now about to celebrate as a church community with sincere contrition for our sins and failures.

“I confess.....”