Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
(I John 2:29-3:6; John 1:29-34)
All the gospels feature John the Baptist near their
beginning. However, none picture John in
quite the same way. In the Gospel of
Mark John does not know who is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit
is. In John’s gospel, the Baptist points
to Jesus as he.
Mark claims that John’s baptism forgives sins. So what more can Baptism with the Holy Spirit
do? It makes the baptized children of
God, heirs of heaven, and temples of the Spirit on earth. Knowing that Christians can act viciously,
one may think the gospel is a fantasy.
But a person may devolve after becoming a child of God. He or she may lose sanctity through serious
sin.
Living a spiritual life, we take Baptismal sanctity
seriously. We strive to act like the
person we have become. With the grace of
the Holy Spirit, we can succeed in this endeavor as sure as we can learn to
read.
