Last weekend our Christmas season ended as we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord. This celebration reminds us that our own baptism is much more than a mere formality. It means so much more. Not only does baptism purify us from all sins – the sin that we have because of our origin and the sins that we have because of our acts — but it also makes us new creatures.

Baptism makes us adopted children of God and partakers of the divine nature. We are then, members of Christ, and co-heirs with him. Our bodies become temples of the Holy Spirit. We are incorporated into the Body of Christ.

As St. Paul says in the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ and therefore, he says, “We are members of one another.” It makes us part of the Church. It makes us people of God of the New Covenant, which makes us a part of a body which goes beyond all natural or human limit of nations, cultures, races and sexes.

Baptism is the basis for our unity in Christ, our communion with all Christians — not just those who are in the full communion of the Church by membership in the Catholic Church, but also other Christians. As the Second Vatican Council put it, those “who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in some, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. Justified by faith in baptism, (they) are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church.” (Unitatis Redintegratio, 3)

Thus, when we are baptized we are put into a relationship with all our fellow Christians. We are called to witness to our faith — and we do witness to that faith by our acts of faith, and of hope and of charity. Our faith and hope are generally made manifest by what we say. We profess our faith. We proclaim hope. Of course, we live differently when we live by faith and hope, but nevertheless, these are virtues that usually must be identified with the spoken word.

Therefore our Christian relationship to Christ, and through him to all humanity, through baptism imposes duties upon us. It means that we have to act in a brotherly or sisterly fashion to everyone. And that involves a great deal of soul-searching, of resolution and of sacrifice. So when we talk about baptism, we are not talking about just a religious rite, something that you’ve done and you don’t have to do again — we are talking about our entrance into a relationship with Christ and it is a relationship of love that is ongoing and full of responsibility to God and all His creation.

Pray with me that we Christians all do better living up to this responsibility in the new year ahead.