Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
(Acts 8:26-40; John 6:44-51)
Humans often take signs very seriously. If you cross a red light in front of the
police, you will pay dearly. The sign of Baptism should carry such weight. It is more than an indication of the soul
being cleansed from sin. Like with the
exchange of marriage vows, it indicates that the baptized has committed him or
herself to God. St. Paul described the
dynamic of Baptism as dying and rising with Christ to a new life of grace.
In the reading from Acts the Ethiopian could not become
Christian without undergoing the Baptismal ritual. He could have read Isaiah day and night
without committing himself to Jesus Christ, whom the prophet describes in the verse
given in the reading. To prove to
himself and to the world that he intends to follow Christ, he must be baptized.
Our times, worried as we are about exceptions, have tended
to downplay the ritual of the sacraments.
We need to take another look at them.
We should find in every sacrament a deep commitment to Jesus. He gave us the sacraments to assure his
everlasting presence to us.
