In Cool Catholics, From Womb to Tomb

Here’s a thought: God loved us so much that from the very beginning of our lives, God has already made available an offer of conversion to living a life for God. More than a conversion, a rebirth, even. What is this offer I’m talking about? – Baptism.

Baptism is something we, Filipino Catholics, are familiar with. In our society, it is treated somewhat as the baby’s first public event. It becomes something we arduously prepare for. We scrutinize details such as the clothes of the child, clothes of the parents, a list of carefully hand-picked ninongs and ninangs(who may have been contracted years beforehand), a lavish feast, etc. But, sometimes, for most people, baptism remains just that- the baby’s first public event, a once-for-all ritual which doesn’t have an active influencing power in ordinary life, a single past event, a registration to the Church. And when we think along these lines, we are missing the point- by miles.

According to Catholic teaching, “baptism allows us to have new life in Christ, sharing in his dying and rising, through which our original sin is wiped away through the cleansing power of both the water and the Spirit.” It is our incorporation to the Church, and our ritual calling for a life of Christian discipleship (Catechism for Filipino Catholics, 1597, p.456).

To put it simply: baptism is our ultimate makeover. We are, from the very core of our being, cleansed. We are, from the situational sin of the world, cleansed. We are made beautiful because we fundamentally are restored to God and a life in the Spirit. The ultimate makeover is not just a one-time-big-time thing, but a makeover of our lifestyle. The question is: how are you sustaining your ultimate makeover?

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