"A Baptism That Transforms"
Fr. George Wertin
Sunday, January 12th, 2003

Baptism is the way we are welcomed into the Church. It is a ritual, a plunging into ‘living water’ and it is sign language. Through it we are born again - into the Christian family. But baptism is also badly misunderstood - and misused. Despite the new theology, since Vatican Council II, people still see it as a cleansing from ORIGINAL SIN. People are still locked into the old sin/redemption theology that sees all human being as infected by a hereditary sin from Adam that keeps them from God. There is that gnawing feeling - even if they have intellectually learned otherwise - that an unbaptized person - even a little child - is consigned to hell unless they are baptized.

This is all rooted in the theology of St. Augustine - not the teaching of Jesus - and a literal interpretation of passages from the Bible that states “Unless you are born again of water and the Holy Spirit you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. This teaching is so graphic and captures our imaginations so well that it seems like it is hardwired into our brains. But if I cast the question another way you will see the absurdity of it. Do you really think that our loving, compassionate God would consign a beautiful innocent child to perdition?

How we understand baptism shapes our whole understanding of what it means to be Christian. Do you think pouring water over the head of a person works magic? Do you think that all the Jews, Muslims and unbelievers who do great good in this world are not children of God - and not loved by God?

A good question to ask is this: Why was Jesus baptized??? Jesus’ baptism is important enough to be narrated in all four Gospels. Why did Jesus need to be baptized? Did he need to have sin removed? Of course not. Baptism for Jesus was the inauguration of a new way of relating to God. It was a commissioning through which Jesus inaugurated a new way of relating with God - one not based on the purity codes and avoidance of contamination. It was his commissioning to inaugurated “the Kingdom of God” in which the key element was to “be compassionate as your God is compassionate”

It is true that baptism is about sin - not personal sin, but THE SIN OF THE WORLD. The problem is: how to introduce beautiful innocent children into this wounded andcorrupted world. It’s a dangerous place:

• This is a world where people speak of peace and love, at the same time as they are creating weapons of mass destruction and preparing for war.
• This is a world where people sing about loving all peoples as sisters and brothers, but vilify people who are different from themselves and commit hate crimes against minorities and immigrants.
• This is a world where people are encouraged to act compassionately, but where domination, patriarchy and oppression reign.
• This is a world where people say they are free yet are totally preoccupied with popularity and consuming the latest toys.

Do you reject the illusion that happiness can be achieved without passing through suffering and death with Jesus?

Do you reject the idols of money, power and prestige as goals for living your lives?

Do you reject the attitudes of this world that lead to eternal death through selfishness and sin?

Tom Monaghan is the founder of Domino’s Pizza who sold his empire for $1 billion. He is a very conservative Catholic who spent $3 million to build a new cathedral in Managua, Nicaragua. And currently he is starting a very conservative new Catholic college on the edge of the Everglades in Florida. He is willing to spend $220 m to create this new college because other Catholic colleges do not meet his criteria of orthodoxy. He wants it to be “a spiritual military academy.” He says “I want to devote the rest of my life to helping people save their souls.” He is locked into the old sin/redemption theology that says we must be fearful of God and earn our salvation. He wants little to do with this world and focus on getting into heaven.

Contrast that with a creation-centered spirituality in which we see that we are already loved by God. We are called to be co-creators with God in building up a kingdom of compassion, justice and love. We are called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We are concerned about salvation, but not about our own personal salvation, which is already assured. We are concerned about the salvation of the world!

Here at St. Joan of Arc we want to be followers of Jesus - disciples if you will. We want to empower women, minorities and poor people. We want to break the spiral of violence and live as a community of equals. We call it Collaborative Ministry. We define Collaborative Ministry as “people working together to serve the world by building God’s reign of peace and justice. We strive to create partnerships that foster healing and growth in our communities as we journey together.” Joan Riebel, who is a member of the Stewardship Committee has come up with a revised definition. She defines Collaborative Ministry more simply as “the tangible expression of love that clarifies our communion with God and one another.”

In baptism we take on the name Christian because we commit ourselves to be followers of Christ who proclaimed a new way of living based on compassion. Perhaps we need to redefine what it means to be a Christian. Then Baptism takes on a rich new meaning. It is about life and living, not about an eternal insurance policy.