210. Fifth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 87 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

In Baptism our sins are forgiven and we receive the gift of grace.

In today’s Divine Office, the Church asks us to consider the spiritual regeneration wrought in us by Christ: For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free … for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

In the waters of Baptism we die to sin and are reborn to a new life. Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. In his infinite goodness, God has wished to give us this sacrament, which St Basil describes as a ransom paid for prisoners, a remission of debt, death to sin, regeneration of the soul, a robe of light, an unbreakable seal, a vehicle conveying us to heaven.

In Baptism we are united in a mysterious manner to our Lord’s Death and Resurrection, the merits of which are applied to our soul. The body is submerged in water so that the soul may be cleansed of all its faults. This death to sin, symbolized in the baptismal washing, clothes the soul with grace, makes it pure in God’s sight, and brings about a true spiritual regeneration, a rebirth that frees man from the guilt of sin and the punishment that sin deserves.

In the sacrament of Baptism, our Father taught, the Holy Spirit takes possession of our soul and begins to act through his grace. He gives us the infused virtues, the ones we call theological: faith, hope and charity. They are virtues we can’t acquire through our own efforts, or our talents or our good will. Our Father God has to give them to us. And he grants them generously, freely, because he loves us. So it’s a very good idea to bring children to receive holy Baptism as soon as possible; because in this sacrament, the Holy Spirit enters the child’s soul and begins to act, bestowing those gifts, those virtues and so many other graces.

By means of grace we are born to the supernatural life, and through the virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit which are infused into the soul, our actions acquire an almost divine value. Moreover, the Second Vatican Council teaches that by virtue of the baptismal character - the indelible seal received by the soul - the faithful are appointed … to Christian religious worship, and participate in the threefold office of Jesus Christ: King, Priest, and Teacher. This empowers Christians to share in Christ’s divine rule over the world, to sanctify every human endeavour, and to teach all people the truths of God.

Through Baptism we are raised to the exalted dignity of God’s children. O happy sacrament of water, exclaims Tertullian, through which, having been washed clean of our sins, we are freed from our original blindness, and brought to eternal life.

In Confirmation we receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

In the natural order, man is born and develops until he comes to maturity and to full mastery of his faculties. Something similar occurs in the order of grace. It is obvious, St Thomas says, that in the life of the body the first requirement is generation by which man receives the gift of life; then comes growth by which he is brought to maturity; … so in the spiritual life there is Baptism which is spiritual birth, and Confirmation which is spiritual growth.

Baptism brings us the power of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to act supernaturally. Confirmation strengthens and increases this ability. The Second Vatican Council teaches that by the sacrament of Confirmation, the faithful are more perfectly bound to the Church and are endowed with the special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread the faith by word and deed. Confirmation, like Baptism, imprints a character on the soul, and enables it more easily to exercise the priestly, royal and prophetic office.

Confirmation signifies and causes the growth to maturity of the person incorporated into Christ. By the imposition of hands, the Christian receives the fullness of the Holy Spirit: divine power and strength to become a good soldier of Christ Jesus. The anointing with oil symbolizes our readiness to go into battle, recalling the way the athletes of old used to anoint their bodies for combat. And in fact this sacrament confers on the soul the specific power of publicly confessing our faith in Christ by our words, giving us the courage and magnanimity to be leaders in the faith, and even, with the help of divine grace, to suffer martyrdom.

We are greatly in need of strength as we strive to sanctify ourselves in this earthly field of combat where God has placed us. In the sacrament of Confirmation, the Tradition of the Church has unanimously seen a strengthening of the spiritual life. By giving more supernatural strength to the soul, through a quiet and fruitful outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Confirmation enables the Christian to fight as miles Christi, as a soldier of Christ, in his intimate battle against selfishness and concupiscence.

Confirmation, a pledge of God’s strength, gives us the courage we need so that we can always triumph in our wonderful battle of peace to extend Christ’s kingdom on earth.

Our participation in Christ’s threefold office: King, Priest, and Teacher.

Apostles are Christians who feel grafted on to Christ, identified with Christ, through Baptism; enabled to fight for Christ, through Confirmation; called to serve God with their activity in the world, through their participation in the royal, prophetic and priestly functions of Christ, which enable them to guide others to God, to teach them the truth of the Gospel, and to co-redeem them through their prayer and their expiation.

Christians who are ready to serve are guides, teachers and priests to other people; they are, for those people, other Christs, alter Christus, or rather, as I usually say to you, ipse Christus (Christ himself).

They are guides, because in sharing in the kingship of Christ - the munus regale, the kingly office - they have been destined to rule over the world and over the things of the earth in order to bring them to God, by serving others as Christ did. By this service of theirs, Christians strive, gently but with authority, to establish Christ’s kingdom on earth.

Christians are also teachers, because they share in the teaching office of Christ - the munus propheticum. They have been sent by God to be living witnesses to the truth, and to teach, by word and example, the truths necessary for salvation.

Finally, Christians are priests to others, since by Baptism and Confirmation they have been clothed with the great dignity of mediating between the Creator and his people. As we read in St Peter: You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. This priesthood, which is essentially distinct from the ministerial priesthood, moves us to offer our body and soul as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

A Christian’s dignity is great indeed. Recall, says St Ambrose, that you have received a spiritual seal, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and fortitude, a spirit of knowledge and piety, a spirit of holy fear. So preserve what you have received from God. God the Father sealed you, Christ the Lord confirmed you, and the Spirit himself has come as a pledge to your hearts. In order to respond as we should to God’s great love, we must use all the powers of our soul, so that the gifts God has bestowed upon us bear fruit. Our spiritual priesthood requires us to offer God spiritual sacrifices - the sacrifice of ourselves, in the first place - in union with the perfect Sacrifice of the Altar. We must also strive to imitate Christ the Teacher and be eager to spread good doctrine. Detached from earthly possessions, and with our hearts fixed on God, we will fight to place Christ the King at the summit of all human activities and lead all things to him.

Sin abounds all over the world; but more abundant still is the reparation we want to offer God in union with Jesus Christ. If we ask our Lady, she will win from her Son the grace and strength we need to enable us to fulfil our mission faithfully.