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THE CONSEQUENCES OF BAPTISM ARE DISCIPLESHIP AND VOCATION
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01-13-2014, 05:45 PM
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THE CONSEQUENCES OF BAPTISM ARE DISCIPLESHIP AND VOCATION
THE CONSEQUENCES OF BAPTISM ARE DISCIPLESHIP AND VOCATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1SAM 1:1-8; MARK 1:14-20 http://www.universalis.com/20140113/mass.htm We celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord yesterday. It was an event that the evangelists considered as the inauguration of Jesus’ messianic ministry. Today’s liturgy is a further drawing out of this Feast. As we begin the first weekday of the Ordinary Time it is appropriate that we reflect on what it really means to be a Christian and a disciple. The principal effects of baptism are the forgiveness of sins and our rebirth as sons and daughters of God in Christ Jesus. Indeed, this is what the Good News is all about. In the gospel today, when Jesus said, “Repent and believe the Good News”, he was not suggesting that we repent of our sins so that we can receive the Good News. On the contrary, the Good News is called Good News precisely because the repentance that is needed is simply to believe the Good News, that is, we are already the children of God. This fact is ours the moment we believe. Of course, we are not children of God by nature, unlike Jesus, but by adoption. The real repentance demanded from us is simply to believe. But how do we know that we believe that we are children of God? The test of whether we have repented of our failure to recognize that we are all children of God is whether we are living out our sonship. If we still live as children of Satan, then we cannot claim that we are His children. For this reason, the implications of being baptized in Christ Jesus, which is to receive the Good News, is that we share in His Sonship through discipleship and vocation. Hence, it is important to note that Jesus, in the calling of the disciples, said, “Follow me”. The command of Jesus is not simply to be baptized, but to become disciples of all nations after baptism. Hence, discipleship is a manifestation of our having been baptized in Christ. We must be careful not to reduce baptism to mere conversion into Christian faith, for the command to become disciples is equally important. Without living the life of Christ, we cannot be said to be the adopted sons and daughters of God. Discipleship simply means to follow Jesus, the Son of God, totally and fully. This is how we are to respond to the Good News. This explains why in the calling of the disciples, Jesus commanded them to “follow me.” We are told that they left their nets at once and followed Jesus. Indeed, for the next three years, they followed Jesus, lived with Him, learnt from Him and saw how their master lived. Out of this discipleship comes vocation. Vocation comes second after discipleship for Jesus, after calling them to follow Him, then said, “I will make you into fishers of men.” Clearly, therefore, one finds our vocation within the whole dimension of discipleship. Primarily, every Christian must first learn discipleship and only having acquired the heart and the mind of Christ, he then discerns how the Lord wants him to serve Him. Without discipleship, there is no true vocation but only a career where one decides for himself what he wants to do for the world, for God and for himself. Vocation comes from hearing the call of God to serve in a way that He wants of us. We must first ask ourselves whether we really want to follow Jesus. Are we ready to put down our nets, that is our security and self-interests and simply place our security in Jesus and in Him alone? For to follow Jesus is to follow Him in the paschal mystery unto death! Unless we come to know Christ and understand the full implications of what it means to be a Christian, we cannot consider how we should live out our discipleship concretely in the world according to the gifts of the Spirit given to us at baptism. Necessarily, we must return to the origin of our call to be disciples and apostles. The basis of this call is clearly brought out in today’s first reading from the Book of Samuel. We can surely empathize with Hannah who was childless and was made to feel worse with the constant taunting of Peninnah. Yet it is significant to take note of the words of Elkanah comforting his wife, “’Hannah, why are you crying and why are you not eating? Why so sad? Am I not more to you then ten sons?’” Truly, what is more important than doing things for the Lord, that is, our vocation and mission, than to be with Him? What is most important above everything else is to discover the Lord as the source of our joy. It is our intimacy with the Lord that brings us real interior joy. All vocations and mission spring from this experience of His love, without which there is no basis for mission and vocation. This, too, was the way that Jesus’ mission came to Him, out of His own personal experience of His Father’s love at His baptism affirming, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Let us therefore be convinced that intimacy with the Lord and holiness must be the springboard of our discipleship and vocation. |
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THE CONSEQUENCES OF BAPTISM ARE DISCIPLESHIP AND VOCATION - stephenkhoo - 01-13-2014 05:45 PM
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