Luke 1:80
The
child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day
of his manifestation to Israel.
June 24 is “Araw ng
Maynila” (Manila Day). Having grew up in
Manila, it was customary also for people at that time to douse passers-by with
water. As a child, I didn’t really know
why, so I would just do what the old people do – get a dipper-full of water and
douse anyone with it. It was fun for
after that “morning ritual”, everyone is wet but happy.
As I grew up, I realized why this is being
practiced. June 24 is when the Church
also celebrate the solemnity of St. John the Baptist’s nativity. And the dousing of water is to “re-enact” how
he, about two-thousand years ago, prepared the way of the Lord, baptizing the
believers in the River Jordan.
Water surrounds us in the womb; water is
the main ingredient of the human body, and especially in the blood which
carries the stuff our cells need for life.
Water makes plant and animal life grow.
Yet, without God's powerful, creative Word, water can do nothing to your
spirit.
So, when you are baptized, the Spirit acts
through that Word and the water to cleanse you and drown the “old you”,
surround and cushion you as your faith gestates, and carry Christ's presence
into you.
Baptism is a promise with a sign; a
covenant of grace given to us in a way that we can see, hear, feel, and grasp.
It is the promise of God's forgiveness, applied personally. It is also the gift
of the Spirit's presence.
When you're baptized, you're putting your
life down a different road, getting off of the road of surrender to evil's
power, and onto the road of the faith journey of surrender to the Spirit.
Let us pray +
Almighty Father, by whose providence your
servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born.
Make us so to follow his teaching and holy life, that we may truly repent
according to his preaching. Amen +
“I baptize in water… but He is the one who
baptizes in the Holy Spirit.”
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