Nativity Catholic Church
|
|
The Power of Water A week ago, I was sharing prayer and a reflection with Confirmation candidates, parents, sponsors and parishioners at All Souls Church in Sanford. It was the first night of their six-week preparation for celebrating the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will descend “like tongues of fire” upon the wonderful people of our neighbor parish. Confirmation catechesis always begins at the beginning, as I like to say—with Baptism. Although at least one befuddled parishioner asked me after the presentation, “I thought tonight was about the sacrament of Confirmation; why were you talking about baptism?” (apparently he had missed the thrust of my whole reflection!)—Baptism is the doorway to the sacramental life, and thus any prayer, reflection, or preparation for sacraments always takes us back to our roots, to where our life in Christ begins—in the powerful waters of Baptism. At one point in the reflection, I shared with those gathered the words of the “Prayer Over the Waters” which we use during the ritual of Baptism. As the prayer conjured up for us all the significant sacramental actions of water throughout salvation history, I felt an involuntary chill and shudder race through me as I spoke the words: “the waters of the great flood you made a sign of the waters of baptism.” All I could think about was the incomprehensible devastation that the floodwaters of the earthquake and ensuing tsunami have brought to the peoples of Southeast Asia! While my mouth continued to offer the words of the remainder of the prayer, unbeknownst to my listeners, my heart was stuck back on the image of the “great flood”—and I wondered, without much conviction at that moment—how such a destructive force could possibly be a sacramental sign! All I could think about was the bewildering, heart-rending photographs of rigor-mortised bodies, their blackened hands reaching and clutching upward, forever frozen in a final, desperate plea for life and salvation against the raging torrents. Indeed, if we thought our Florida hurricanes and floods have been destructive, we now have a new measuring stick with which to measure the true meaning of “devastation,” forever reminding us not to use the term perhaps as loosely as we have in the past. The great mystery and paradox of the “great waters of the flood,” which indeed we proclaim a sacramental sign that draws us to the waters of Baptism, is the paradox and mystery of our life in Christ. Just as the great waters of the heavens and earth are both dangerous and life giving, so too our discipleship in Christ Jesus is dangerous and life giving. Following Jesus Christ beyond the surface requirements of church membership, reception of the sacraments, and “just showing up on occasion,” is always a wrestling match between death and life, between danger and salvation. Whenever we celebrate infant Baptisms at Nativity, I can always count on one observer mentioning to me that no doubt the child let out a little whimper while being plunged into the baptismal font because the child was “traumatized” by the cold water! I gently remind them that a) infants are not generally “traumatized” by water—after all, they spend nine months swimming in it before entering into our world and b) the water of the font is heated to a nice, tepid bathwater temperature before the celebrations! Indeed, have no fears, the waters of the font are indeed “hot.” G.K. Chesterton once said: “I believe in getting into hot water. I think it keeps you clean.” As followers of Christ, baptized into his death and resurrection, we too should be getting into “hot water” every day of our lives—and not just the day of our Baptism. If we truly live the gospel life, if we truly commit ourselves to the radical ways of Jesus, like our Master and Lord, we too will find ourselves in more hot water than we may be able to stand at times. If we are not finding ourselves in such a place, then perhaps we are living some other life that is far from the demands of the gospel. If we are truly living the radical expectations and lifestyle changes required and demanded by the gospel of Jesus Christ, then we too will find ourselves caught in the great mystery and paradox of water’s dangerous and life giving powers. I’m still struggling with the image of the “waters of the great flood”—no, not those of Noah and company, but of our suffering brothers and sisters across the globe. For now, I cling to the realization that indeed, as the waters of heaven and earth are powerfully dangerous as well as life giving, so too is committed life in Christ!
|
