OUR SPIRITUAL BIRTHDAY
Our baptism was a
very simple ceremony: a little water was poured over our heads. But it was a
great day for us.
There is one day in
our lives which we usually consider pretty important and that is our birthday.
It would be a very rare person indeed who would not know the date of his or her
own birth or who would not celebrate that day. As we grow older we may not be
too eager to count how many birthdays we have had, but we still like to be
greeted with a "happy birthday" from relatives and friends.
Actually we have
two birthdays: one when we were born of our parents, and the one when we were
born of God in baptism. The event related in the first reading puts us in mind
of the sacrament of baptism. Naaman suffered from leprosy. He was asked to do a
simple thing by Elisha -- to wash seven times in the water of the Jordan. After
some reluctance he complied, and, as we saw, he was cured of his leprosy. It
was a great day for Naaman: one I am sure he never forgot.
Our baptism was a
very simple ceremony: a little water was poured over our heads. But it was a
great day for us. Not only were we cured of the leprosy of sin, but also, and
more importantly, God gave us a share in His divine life and thereby made us
His children. It was indeed our spiritual birthday.
It does not really
matter too much, I suppose, if we do not know the actual day when we were
baptized. But we certainly should celebrate the day with great joy and
happiness. As we know, during Lent there is an emphasis on baptism, an emphasis
which reaches its climax in the renewal of our baptism on Holy Saturday. Each
time, however, that we come into church, we should reflect on our baptism as we
take holy water at the font, a symbol of baptism. Then as we see others in the
church we should realize that we are all here in our Father's home, brothers
and sisters of one another because of our spiritual birth in baptism from a
common Father who loves us. Indeed, the day of our baptism was a great day for
us, one we should never forget...
Today the
responsorial psalm, "As a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul
longs for You, O God," expresses our longing, for we are on the journey of
Lent. We anticipate celebrating the particularly awe-inspiring rites of Easter
when we will surround the baptismal font and witness those who will be
baptized, and when we renew our own baptismal promises. This brings us great
joy!