“Encircling ourselves in prayer and self-discipline, and being willing to get out of our ‘comfort zones’ so that we can be passionate and zealous children of God!”

(Based on the Baptism of the Lord)

A young missionary in a particular village heard the fame of a senior missionary and his successful ventures in reviving the faith of the people.

Wanting to know the secret of success in ministry, the younger missionary, on meeting the senior, asked him: “What is the secret of reviving the faith of the people in my village?”

The senior man, who was also aware of the worldly lifestyle of the younger missionary said: “Go back to your home and lock yourself up in a private room.

Then, take a piece of chalk, and mark a circle on the floor.

Get down on your knees, then, inside the circle…
… and pray to God to begin a revival inside the circle!
When this prayer is heard, a revival will take place in your people!”

Yes, it is when one is revived with the Spirit of the Lord…
… that one can radiate the same to others!

This revival demands that we “encircle” ourselves in prayer
and self-discipline, by being willing to get out…
… of our “comfort zones” of worldliness and hard-heartedness!

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is a call to revive our consecration and commitment as followers of Christ.

The event of the Baptism symbolically finishes three decades of Jesus’ hidden life…
… as Jesus is declared as God’s own beloved Son in Whom He is well pleased. (Cf. Mt 3:17)

By being baptised at the waters of River Jordan, Jesus sanctified the waters of Baptism and empowered them…
… so that the water would become the vehicle of the Holy Spirit bringing inner cleansing, rebirth, and transformation!

The entry of Jesus into the waters of River Jordan has two direct implications for our day-to-day Christian living:

1. Our Blessed Lord continues to enter into our stained situation to cleanse us and renew us

He enters into our sinful humanity so that, through His Mercy, we will enter into His Divinity.

[Just as the Priest, while pouring a drop of water into the wine in the chalice at Offertory during the Holy Mass, prays: “By the mystery of this water in wine, may we come to share in
the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”]

We are called to enter into the world of sinners and lead them to the redemptive love of Christ

Being in the sinful world, but not being part of it, we are called to “be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish amid a crooked and perverse generation… [to] shine as lights in the world” (Cf. Phil 2:15)

2. The Baptism of the Lord is a reminder of our Christian dignity as Children of God!

We are privileged to have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God’s kingdom!

Our Christian dignity as God’s children calls us to become a saint!

Pope St John Paul II exhorts: “Since Baptism is a true entry into the holiness of God, it would be a contradiction…
… to settle for a life of mediocrity
… marked by a minimalist ethic and a shallow religiosity

Holy Father, Pope Francis during one of his Wednesdayaudiences in the presence of a packed St. Peter’s Square once said:
“Baptism is in a certain sense the identity card of the Christian, his birth certificate, and the act of his birth into the Church.

All of you know the day on which you were born and you celebrate it as your birthday, don’t you?

Let’s do something: today, when you go home, find out what day you were baptized, look for it, because this is your second birthday.
The first birthday is the day you came into life…
… and the second birthday is the one on which you came into the Church.
This is your homework!”

This is the day for us to…
… to renew our faith and conviction in all the articles of the Creed
… to check if we use our ears and lips to hear and speak about God
… to examine whether the flame of faith is still burning in us
… to declare our rejection of Satan and his empty promises
… to see if our garment is still white, for the eternal banquet

Let us celebrate our birth in the Lord and into the Church

Let us “encircle” ourselves in prayer and self-discipline, and be willing to get out of our “comfort zones” of worldliness and hard-heartedness…
… so that we can be passionate and zealous children of God!

Happy Feast of the Baptism!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

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📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON – THE GRAVITY OF SIN: MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN

Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God’s law…
… it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude
… by preferring an inferior good to him.

Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it. (CCC # 1854)