CONSIDER YOURSELVES TO BE DEAD TO SIN

 XIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Romans 6:3-4, 8-11

In this Sunday’s second reading, St Paul invites us to reflect upon baptism and the mystery of salvation into which we are called to enter through baptism. We should not forget that the true disciple of Jesus Christ must receive baptism. Some question the necessity of baptism for salvation, affirming that we are justified by faith alone and saved by grace. However, what right do we have to ignore Jesus’ instructions to his disciples, ordering them to baptise those who believe in Him (Mt 28:19)? To Nicodemus, Jesus said that to enter the Kingdom of God, we must be “born of water and the Spirit” (Jn 3:5).

The baptism is a ritual bath or a ritual washing that connects us with Christ, done during an act of worship. The baptism is a gift bestowed on us by God through the Church. It clearly shows that salvation is not something that we conquer or earn through our effort, power or wealth.

We were baptised in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, meaning that we were accepted into God’s communion through the union with Jesus Christ. In the baptism, we celebrate God’s plan of salvation, realising that He calls us to be part of that plan. And God’s plan is revealed in Jesus Christ as a plan that comes from his great love.

Long before the coming of Jesus, the Psalmist had already recognised that God’s commitment to his people was a fruit of his love:

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;

through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.

Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,

that your truth is firmly established as the heavens. (Psalm 89).

In baptism, we profess our faith in Jesus, proclaiming that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God. In baptism, we are anointed with the Holy Spirit, who grafts us into Christ, becoming one with Him, thus being children of God through Him. In baptism, we enter into a special relationship with Christ and, according to Paul in his letter to the Romans, we enter into the mystery of his death and resurrection. We die with Christ to rise with Him. In the baptism, the blood of Christ cleanses us from our sin, thus reconciling us with God, who accepts us as his beloved children.

In baptism, we commit ourselves to Christ, making Him the only reason for our living. He is the foundation upon which our lives may be built and gain a purpose. He is the summit and the peak that calls us to always reach for the heights. Choosing him is better than living because he is the true life. Indeed, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.