Identity And Mission Of Baptized Persons

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Members of the Church are not just members of Jesus Christ Society. We are not here just to fondly remember a distant figure, to merely keep his ideals alive just as the members of Abraham Lincoln Society do. We are something much more than that, something stranger, more dramatic and more challenging. We are molecules, cells, organs in the living Body of Christ. We have been grafted unto him in such a way that he now continues to live his life in us. No member of Abraham Lincoln Society thinks that Abraham Lincoln is living his life in them. Do they admire him? Absolutely! Do they consider him an exceptional historical figure? Yes! But do they think Abraham Lincoln is living in them? Not at all! We, members of the Church do not see ourselves the same way that the society of Abraham Lincoln see themselves. We are the Church, and the Church is that organism, that living thing, that body which Jesus is the head and we are the active members. St. Paul says that Christ is the head of the body, the church (1 Col. 1:18). He also says we are the body of Christ and each one of us is a member (1 Cor. 12:27). But according to the conversion story of this very Paul (he was Saul at the time), we are told that while he was traveling to Damascus to obtain authorization letter to arrest more Christians, a light from the sky hit him, and brought him to the ground. Then the voice of the Lord said to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts. 9:2-3). The Lord did not ask Saul why he was persecuting those people who believe in him , rather he asks him, why are you persecuting me? Why? Because the Church is Christ’s living body. To persecute the Church is to persecute Him. In Matthew 25 we read those words that still challenge us today: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (v.40). This is not Abraham Lincoln talking about his society. This is the head of the living mystical body of which we are members talking about us, His Church. 

How does one get into the mystical body? Baptism! We are baptized in the name of Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. By means of baptism we enter into the relationship of the Trinity itself. Through baptism we are drawn into the very life of God. We Catholics begin our prayer by making the sign of the cross: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” By so doing, we remember our baptism. We pray not with the mentality that God is out there and somewhere and we are outside praying to him. We don’t pray outside of God. We pray within the dynamics of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We pray within God and in God because we are members of Christ’s mystical body. 

So, what are they implications of this? The first implication of baptism is that we are connected to one another the way organs in the body are connected. Although we have been so influenced by individualistic philosophy, the fact remains that whatever society we have is by a social contract. We agree to enter into a contract. As for the Church, whether we like it or not, as baptized persons and members of the living mystical body of Christ, we are connected to all the baptized people across the ages. We are connected to all the saints, but not just the saints alone but the good, the bad, the ugly, the indifferent. Everyone who is baptized is connected to us in way that organs in the body are connected to each other. It would be absurd for the lungs to say to the liver that is affected by cancer— that’s your problem, I’m not gonna worry about you, that is your problem. In a very short time, the problem in the liver will become a problem for the lungs and for the whole body. So, it is wildly unreasonable for us to say over the suffering of another in the mystical body, that is not my problem. I’m not worried about that. I will say a little prayer for them, but I am not concerned about their problem. Their problem is our problem. My problem is your problem and your problem is my problem. We are all connected; we are connected to each other. The second implication is this— if baptism is the gateway to life in the Spirit, if it gives us new life, we need its food to sustain the life. One of the most disturbing statistics you see these days is the huge number of Catholics, members of the mystical body of Christ, who are staying away from the sacraments. What’s the percentage of those who come to Mass prior to COVID-19? Some estimates say it is between 20 to 25 percent. If a new born baby is never fed, never given to drink, he or she will die shortly. What is the Eucharist? It is the feeding of the divine life within us without which we will starve to death. When we get sick in the physical term, we go to the doctor, get diagnosed and take medicine. As dysfunctional people, we become spiritually sick all the time. It is called sin. Mortal sin puts to death the life in us. That’s why it is called mortal sin. Where is the doctor and the medicine for this sickness? The sacrament of reconciliation. Catholics who stay away from the sacrament of reconciliation for a very long time, are you still wondering why you are so sick spiritually? Third implication— The Gospel of John tells us that the Word of God became flesh, took to himself a human nature, that is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He walked this earth for 33 years. That is the first incarnation. However, Catholic theology affirms that there is a kind of second incarnation which happens when the same Word Jesus Christ takes to himself the mystical body— us.  Who are we? We are his mind, his heart, his hands, his feet, his eyes. Every one of the saints, during their time functioned as the means by which Christ was continuing to transform his world. Through the conversion of  Saul who later became Paul, through the exercise of the magnificent minds of Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas, through the joyful poverty of Francis of Assisi, through the radiant goodness of Vincent de Paul, through the great compassion and moral vision of Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, through the heroism of Maximillian Kolbe, through the amazing charity of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, through the courageous nonviolence of John Paul II, through the uncommon bravery of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, through the exceptional witness of the life of Thomas More, and the mystical prayer of Catherine of Sienna— through all these saints, martyrs and witnesses, Jesus transformed the world. 

Every baptized Christian is endowed with gifts— charism, which are meant to be exercised in this world so that Christ might continually surge into it. Are we using our charism? Do we even know our charism? The next time you ask the question, “Lord, why don’t you do something to stop all these violence, hunger, and social ills? Try and turn the question into a mission call for you. The next time you ask the question, “Lord, why not act?” pay attention to his voice that will no doubt say to you, “Why not do something.” God has given us charisms so that through us he will continue to operate in the world. We are his hands in the world. If we opt out, his grace will not surge in the world. As we celebrate the baptism of the Lord, remember that we are members of Christ’s mystical body, connected to each other, fed and sustained by the sacraments, and gifted with a mission that we are meant to exercise for the transformation and transfiguration of the world.