Today, we celebrated baptism for two little ones who are now part of God's family. This initiation for them prompted me to reflect on the invitation that was given to each of us on the day of our own baptism. It's good news ... with a twist. Read on, or listen in if you'd rather:
Strive for perfection
It's that time of the month. On one weekend every month, we welcome children who have been brought to the community by their parents, and we celebrate God's love in the Sacrament of Baptism. This is the weekend, and so we (will) welcome two families who have asked to have their children baptised. Like birth, baptism is a new beginning. Like birth, baptism comes with both rights and responsibilities. From the day of our baptism, we are all called 'Children of God ... for so indeed we are' (Introduction to the recitation of the Lord's Prayer, Rite of Baptism for Children), but from the day of a child's baptism, parents and godparents also accept a responsibility to be the primary teachers of their children in the ways of faith. It is their responsibility then to teach by word and example, the faith that is professed: to teach their children to keep the commandments, to love God in return for the love He shows us every day, and to love our neighbour.
Parents are indeed primarily responsible for the education of their children, but they are not the only ones who play a part in teaching the lessons of faith, just as parents are not the only ones who play a part in teaching their children how to read, write, and do arithmetic. Each one of us has been given the great privilege of being called a child of God, so each one of us also has been entrusted with the responsibility to share this good news, as well as its consequent responsibility with those who God calls to join us on the road of discipleship.
Jesus spent a number of years proclaiming the good news, telling all those who would listen that we are all children of God. Some of those who heard his words found in them a fresh new truth, the truth that comes when words speak to the heart, a truth that enlightens and enlivens the listener. In time, Jesus also called some of his listeners to be apostles, those who would be sent out with the special task of proclaiming this good news to the whole world. For a time, while these new apostles were in training, Jesus was not only their teacher, but more importantly their mentor. Teachers and mentors have a special responsibility to recognize in their pupils, both strengths and weaknesses. Good teachers and mentors also know how to accentuate a pupil's strengths, allowing that student to believe in his or her own abilities, while at the same time encouraging them to identify their weaknesses and to work at transforming these into strengths as well.
Jesus was the best of teachers, and the best of mentors because he challenged his apostles, to believe that they could always improve. He is still the best of teachers because he challenges each one of us, his modern-day disciples, to believe that we can always aim higher. The society around us still encourages us, sometimes with an ever-growing pressure to believe that we should retaliate when we have been wronged, yet Jesus tells us that we should respond in love, even if to do so means that we ourselves must suffer. Actions speak louder than words. So it is that this response, which has been perceived at times as passivity, has spoken eloquently throughout the generations that have already passed. People who see only with the eyes of this world cannot understand the motivation for turning the other cheek, for sharing the things we have received with others so that we can respond to their needs and not our own.
Even from the time of Moses, God's people have been called to be holy. In this sense, holiness means that we are called to live lives that exemplify virtue. By doing so, we also challenge others to do the same, to pull up their socks, to be all that they can be. I suppose the concept of doing our best depends on which standards we set for ourselves. It seems to me that the bar can be set pretty high in a society that is increasingly competitive, but no level of perfection judged by human standards seems to be as demanding, or as attainable as the one that has been set by our God, because his wisdom is far beyond the wisdom of this world, his love is more powerful than any challenge the world can put before us, his ability to believe in us bears the possibility of making us proud to be called his children, and him proud to be known as our Heavenly Father.
Strive for perfection
It's that time of the month. On one weekend every month, we welcome children who have been brought to the community by their parents, and we celebrate God's love in the Sacrament of Baptism. This is the weekend, and so we (will) welcome two families who have asked to have their children baptised. Like birth, baptism is a new beginning. Like birth, baptism comes with both rights and responsibilities. From the day of our baptism, we are all called 'Children of God ... for so indeed we are' (Introduction to the recitation of the Lord's Prayer, Rite of Baptism for Children), but from the day of a child's baptism, parents and godparents also accept a responsibility to be the primary teachers of their children in the ways of faith. It is their responsibility then to teach by word and example, the faith that is professed: to teach their children to keep the commandments, to love God in return for the love He shows us every day, and to love our neighbour.
Parents are indeed primarily responsible for the education of their children, but they are not the only ones who play a part in teaching the lessons of faith, just as parents are not the only ones who play a part in teaching their children how to read, write, and do arithmetic. Each one of us has been given the great privilege of being called a child of God, so each one of us also has been entrusted with the responsibility to share this good news, as well as its consequent responsibility with those who God calls to join us on the road of discipleship.
Jesus spent a number of years proclaiming the good news, telling all those who would listen that we are all children of God. Some of those who heard his words found in them a fresh new truth, the truth that comes when words speak to the heart, a truth that enlightens and enlivens the listener. In time, Jesus also called some of his listeners to be apostles, those who would be sent out with the special task of proclaiming this good news to the whole world. For a time, while these new apostles were in training, Jesus was not only their teacher, but more importantly their mentor. Teachers and mentors have a special responsibility to recognize in their pupils, both strengths and weaknesses. Good teachers and mentors also know how to accentuate a pupil's strengths, allowing that student to believe in his or her own abilities, while at the same time encouraging them to identify their weaknesses and to work at transforming these into strengths as well.
Jesus was the best of teachers, and the best of mentors because he challenged his apostles, to believe that they could always improve. He is still the best of teachers because he challenges each one of us, his modern-day disciples, to believe that we can always aim higher. The society around us still encourages us, sometimes with an ever-growing pressure to believe that we should retaliate when we have been wronged, yet Jesus tells us that we should respond in love, even if to do so means that we ourselves must suffer. Actions speak louder than words. So it is that this response, which has been perceived at times as passivity, has spoken eloquently throughout the generations that have already passed. People who see only with the eyes of this world cannot understand the motivation for turning the other cheek, for sharing the things we have received with others so that we can respond to their needs and not our own.
Even from the time of Moses, God's people have been called to be holy. In this sense, holiness means that we are called to live lives that exemplify virtue. By doing so, we also challenge others to do the same, to pull up their socks, to be all that they can be. I suppose the concept of doing our best depends on which standards we set for ourselves. It seems to me that the bar can be set pretty high in a society that is increasingly competitive, but no level of perfection judged by human standards seems to be as demanding, or as attainable as the one that has been set by our God, because his wisdom is far beyond the wisdom of this world, his love is more powerful than any challenge the world can put before us, his ability to believe in us bears the possibility of making us proud to be called his children, and him proud to be known as our Heavenly Father.
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