Baptism of the Lord: Called to be Active Participants

01-09-2020Weekly ReflectionFather Prince Raja

As a priest while administering the sacrament of baptism to groups of infants back in India and in USA, I have often noted with much curiosity the variety of infant-reaction to the ceremony of the baptism itself. There are basically three types of behavior as infants react to, the priest, the water, the oil, the white cloth, the light, and the crowd itself that is around during the celebration of the sacrament of baptism:

There are the sharp-eyed infants, who watch every movement with keen curiosity. They are like the spectators at the tennis court, moving their head towards every stimulus. They are generally quiet but active. When the parents and god-parents are presented with the candle, for instance, these infants would also try to reach out and insist on holding it themselves, only to be cautiously prevented by the adults around. It is much delight to have such infants around. I still remember one of my nephews trying to taste the oil from my thumb while I was trying to say the prayer of 'Ephphatha'.

Then, there are the noise-makers. Restless, crying, troublesome! When the cold water touches their head during baptism they scream! When their parents are presented with the lit-candle they shove it away. They test the patience of the priest who is often trying to administer baptism in a hurry after his long Eucharistic celebration prior to it.

And, there are the sleepers. They have no idea of what is going on. Perhaps they are well fed, and comfortably cuddled by the grandmother. When they are baptized with the cold water they sort of shiver a little, but do not even bother to open their eyes. They are harmless, but no fun having too many of them around.

I am not trying to make a value judgement on infant reaction – it might say nothing about how they will behave as grown up Christians. But for sure, these reactions are so true of adult Christians: you and I. We can be active participants. Today we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. With this feast we conclude the Christmastide. The baptism of Jesus was a confirmation that Jesus was the Son of God, and that God was actually present in his person, our own baptism reminds us that we are children of God, and God is with us. By our baptism we are given the privilege of being part of the believing community. This community, the church, accompanies us in our own journey through our crosses to our own Resurrection. And we are invited to support each other in this journey.

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