Baptism has two fundamental meanings. The first meaning is pretty much known by the majority of those who seek baptism. We have always been taught that through baptism we become part of the church and the nature of our church is that it is open to everybody. In the second reading of today from the Acts of the Apostles written by St Luke we have St Peter making an astounding statement. “The truth is” he said, “that God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him”. It is not enough to say that I follow Jesus Christ. Being part of a Christian community, being part in an active role of the church is a natural consequence of believing and following Jesus Christ. Jesus never said to any of his disciples “you go on your own and do the best that you can”. Rather his advice was “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there”.
The reality is that we are part and parcel of a church that embraces so many different cultures and nationalities. It is interesting to read that in Britain now, Catholics would be the people who most go to church on Sundays. This is the fruit of the influx of so many people from the European Union. It is estimated that about a million Poles are living in the United Kingdom since Poland joined the European Union. Let us not go very far. Let us look at our own country. Following the census that was held last year it is estimated that between 40% to 45% of Catholics in Australia were either born overseas or are children whose parents were born overseas. This has helped us as a church, as a community to value respect, a sense of dignity for others irrespective of where they come from, a sense of justice and an amazing sense of generous service and welcome. We are all part of an amazing family, which inspite of our sinfulness, and other foibles is wanted, cared for and loved by our God.
The second meaning of baptism is that when we are baptized Jesus through the Holy Spirit comes to live in us and with us. From that moment we are also destined for eternity. Every morning when you open your eyes give yourself time to hear Jesus saying to you the very words that Jesus himself heard when He was baptized. “Mary, John, Andrew, Judy you are my beloved son, You are my beloved daughter. My favour, my care, my attention, my presence. Everything that I have rests with you today. As baptized people we do not have an identity crisis. We know exactly who we are. We are people who are totally saturated and surrounded by the Spirit of our God who is alive today.
I do not need any gimmick to prop me up. I do not need to wear the clothes with the right labels or be slave to any opinion pole or fashion guru in order to feel respected or acknowledged. I do not need to subscribe to any human standard in order to feel that I am someone worthy to be loved and worthy to be accepted. I have got Jesus Christ within me. I am at this very moment being empowered, nurtured and nourished by my loving God. This means that wherever I am, I am a source of blessing. Wherever I am, I bring the touch of God with me. Let us never underestimate the good that we do. Let us never sell ourselves short. Let us always remember that wherever we are I am the face, the heart the feet and the hands of our God who is alive in me. Through us God can turn what appears to be a tragedy into a triumph.
On New Year’s Eve many of the priests of the Bendigo area were around Mgr John Duffus as he lay in bed dying. It was a very important moment. I would not call the atmosphere somber. It was rather a moment pregnant with faith and conviction of who we all are in God. There was time spent in prayer and the “Savle Regima”, the beautiful traditional hymn to our Lady was sung in Latin. This hymn has always been an integral part of our formation as priests. Then each priest gave his blessing to Mgr Duffus. At the end, Mgr John White, parish priest of Wangaratta and the Vicar General, asked Mgr John to give all those present his blessing. He gave his blessing and at the end he said, “I commend you all to God”. These words sum up the life of Mgr Duffus, a man of deep faith, a man who loved and lived his priesthood and a very decent human being. It was a privilege to accompany him during the last days of his life because it strengthened our faith, our brotherhood as priests, and our commitment to continue to serve you, the people who are wanted and desired by our God. Indeed Jesus turns what appears to be tragedies into triumphs.
Let us take this final prayer of Mgr Duffus and whenever we meet people, conscious that because of our baptism Jesus Christ is alive in us and is also praying with us, let us always leave them with these words “I commend you to God”. It may not seem much but its consequences we can never measure.
God bless.
