THE TWO JOHNS: THE INTIMATE RELATION OF SACRAMENTS OF
BAPTISM AND EUCHARIST (January 3, 2014)
“Everyone who remains in God through sanctifying grace is an
agent of God in driving away sins and the Evil One.” “Let your material body be
on earth but your soul must always be in heaven.”
(1 John 2:29- 3:6; Psalm 98; John 1:29-34)
This day, we refresh in our memory the Most Holy Name of
Jesus that’s why it’s a memorial. In the Gospel of St. John the apostle, we are
told that St. John the Baptist preached about Jesus Christ saying, “See, the
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” The Baptist knew that Jesus
Christ is the sacrificial Lamb of God that will save the world from sin the
moment he saw the Holy Spirit came down and remained in Jesus Christ. The
Baptist had the Holy Spirit from the beginning of his existence and there is no
doubt that this same Holy Spirit who had spoken through the prophets of the Old
Testament will not reveal everything to the Baptist. Of course the Holy Spirit
will reveal everything to him on everything that was said by the prophets of
old about Jesus Christ who chose the Baptist as His prophet or preacher now. The
Baptist is the preacher of Jesus Christ and the Baptist must know everything
about the person whom he will go to preach about and of course by the means of
the Spirit of God which is the Holy Spirit. The Baptist’s baptism of the admission
of guilt by ordinary water is an indirect reference to the Baptism that Jesus
Christ will establish using holy water that contains the Holy Spirit; the
Baptism of the forgiveness of sins which washes away the sins that were
admitted by the people and makes them holy for the Holy Spirit remains in them
now. And in Christ’s baptism of the Holy Spirit, we are made children of God
and the Holy Spirit remains in us which is the Spirit of the Son which make us
adopted children through our Brother Jesus Christ.
Now, in the first letter of St. John the apostle, we are
told by him that if we consider that Jesus Christ is righteous or holy, then we
also know that everyone who acts in righteousness or holiness is begotten by
Him which means that everyone who acts in holiness is one in Christ’s being as
Christ intended the person to be for the person now has the Holy Spirit in
him/herself. That’s why the Sacrament of Baptism is so important so that
everyone will become one in Christ’s being and will know who God is and what
God has intended him/her to be as he/she advances in age and wisdom by the help
of the Holy Spirit. That’s why a new born baby must be baptized right away, at
the appointed time according to the Catholic Church. We became children of God
because of the Holy Spirit which God bestowed on us. We children of God are unknown
to the world for the world does not have the Holy Spirit and what they have is
sin, darkness, and the devil. For everyone who has the Holy Spirit knows who
God is and knows who God’s children are. St. John further teaches us that as
children of God on this earth, and what we shall be has not yet been revealed
for we are not in heaven yet. But when the time has come for us to be in
heaven, then and only then will we see that we are the image and likeness of
God and we are one in God’s being. That’s why everyone who has this hope based
on God makes oneself holy or pure for God is holy and pure. And the beloved
apostle goes on that sin is lawlessness or against God’s law. Everyone who remains
in God through sanctifying grace is agents of God in driving away sins and the
devil. And for those who commit sin, they do not know fully who God is and what
God is: the truth that God came to destroy sin away from us and in God there is
no sin for He is pure and holy. And everyone who knows the Word of God by all
of his mind, heart, soul, being, and strength is sensitive enough in sensing
what is sinful and what is of holiness and of God. In the Sacrament of the
Eucharist, the Lamb of God makes us pure every time we worthily take him in our
selves. We must be pure like the Sacred Host for God, the Lamb, is holy. And as
we take Him, we are called to be more like Him.
“Jesus, I trust in You” “O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee”
Mary H. Distributist
No comments:
Post a Comment