[stephenkhoo]

SHARING IN THE RESURRECTED LIFE THROUGH THE SPIRIT GIVEN TO US AT BAPTISM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 4:23-31; JN 3:1-8
http://www.universalis.com/20140428/mass.htm

Last week, the liturgy was focused on faith in the resurrection of our Lord. During the Octave of Easter, the selected gospel reading for each day dealt with the appearance of the Lord to His disciples. Having strengthened our faith in the resurrection of Christ, the weeks following Easter Octave will seek to draw out the ramifications of the Risen Lord for us. Most of all, the liturgy is concerned with how we can continue to encounter the Risen Lord in our lives today, so that He can continue to act in us in such a way that our lives can become a true participation of His death and resurrection.


Firstly, to live the resurrected life is to live the life of the Kingdom. This means that we no longer live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The apostles demonstrated such a life when they did not retaliate against the authorities for arresting them. Instead of feeling bitter and resentful, they praised God. Instead of feeling frightened and fearful of the threats made against them by the religious and political authorities, they prayed for more courage to witness to the Risen Christ. Because they were not afraid of death, they remained bold in proclaiming the Good News.


Secondly, the resurrected life is one of power. They prayed with a deep personal faith in the Lord. They were conscious of Christ’s presence in their midst. They prayed that God will continue to stretch out His hand “to heal and to work miracles and marvels” through the name of His holy servant Jesus. Clearly, the early Christians were very much aware that the Lord was with them in His resurrection. As a result, we are told that “as they prayed, the house where they were assembled rocked; they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim the word of God boldly.”


The question is, how can we have such a deep encounter with the Risen Lord so that He too can empower us to work miracles and marvels in His name? In the gospel today, Nicodemus understood that for Jesus to work such signs, He must have come from God. He said, “’Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who comes from God; for no one could perform the signs that you do unless God were with him.’” Hence, we cannot work the same signs as Jesus unless we too know God. Indeed, as Jesus said, “unless a man is born through water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God: what is born of the flesh is flesh; what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Only when we are born of God, can we do what Jesus did.


How then can we acquire this Spirit? The answer given by the Church is in the sacraments. Only because the Lord is risen, the sacraments become the means by which we can have a real encounter with the Risen Lord. Through the sacraments, Jesus continues to minister to us as He did during His earthly ministry.


Of special concern to us are the sacraments of initiation, namely, baptism, Eucharist and confirmation. These three sacraments are given special emphasis during the Easter season because they are meant to lead Christians to share in the fullness of the life of Christ. Accordingly, on the second week of Easter, the sacrament of baptism is the first of the sacraments to be reflected upon.


Baptism is the gateway to the reception of the Spirit. In baptism, we are called to die with Christ so that we can acquire His Spirit through death to self and rising to a new life with Him. Only in the resurrection and ascension can this Spirit be given. Only in the Spirit can we live the life of the kingdom as well. Thus, on the last day of the Easter Octave yesterday, we read that it was on the evening of Easter Sunday that Jesus bestowed upon His disciples the Holy Spirit which empowered them to become His messengers of reconciliation through the forgiveness of sins.


In baptism we receive the Holy Spirit and also the accompanying gifts as well. One with Him in the Spirit, we can now continue to exercise the ministry of Jesus by proclaiming Him mightily through the wonderful works and marvels demonstrated by our lives. In this way, baptism, which is possible only because of the resurrection of Christ, becomes a real and effective way to share in the resurrected life of Christ in the Spirit.