Be Baptized

 

Isaac's baptism on 2 August 2009

Today is Good Friday, a day where Jesus died for our sins.  Jesus, the Son of God had come into our world.  No other religion had this before, the coming of God as the Son in flesh.  The laws of Moses had required the killing of the best lambs as sacrifices to 'remove sin'.  They pictured the giving up of an innocent life so that sinners could be forgiven.  Jesus fulfills that.  He is the pure, sinless 'Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world' (John 1:29).  He was sacrificed by being nailed to a 'tree', a wooden cross.  There, all the sins of every person went into His body.  There, He paid the full punishment for all sins, so that we could be set free from sin's guilt and pain.  Isaiah, seven hundred years earlier, foresaw this suffering for the 'iniquities' and 'transgressions' (sins) of mankind.

He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us had turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6)

Peter, who saw Jesus die, reported the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.  

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed (1 Peter 2:24)

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy... (Titus 3:5)

In baptism one is buried with Christ and also raised with Christs.  Christ's death saves us.  The divine blood, which Jesus poured out at His death, cleanses us.  We meet that saving blood when we are baptized into His death.  

And now what are you waiting for?  Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name.  (Acts 22:16)

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:15-16)

Isaac's baptism ceremony: the priest pour water on his forehead and I take a towel to wipe off the water.  

In our baptism ceremony, there is a need to appoint a Godfather.  He need to be present for the baptism ceremony.  I asked my brother to be Isaac's Godfather.  

If you want to be saved, believe in Jesus and be baptized.  

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Holy Communion

 

Family photograph taken before the year 1988

Every time when I mention about Holy Communion, I would remember my paternal grandmother.  She is sitting with my grandfather in the photograph above.  What is Holy Communion?

Photograph of me receiving Jesus the first time, My First Holy Communion

Even though I was taught about this Holy Communion in Catechism:

On the night He was betrayed, Jesus took bread and gave it to His disciples, and said, "Take this, all of you, and eat it: This is My Body which will be given up for you."

When supper was ended, He took the cup.  Again He gave thanks and praise, gave the cup to His disciples, and said, "Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of My Blood, the Blood of the new and everlasting covenant.  It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven.  Do this in memory of Me."

I was not aware that I was receiving Jesus at that time.  It was just bread I received in my mouth then.  It got soften with saliva and I just swallowed it.  After that, I went to the pew to pray.  So every time we go church, this is the main thing that we do, the reason why we go church.  

Our Lord changed bread and wine into His Body and Blood and offered Himself to God.  This was a sacrifice.  This was His Body to be offered on the Cross.  This was His Blood to be shed for the forgiveness of sins.  He told the Apostles that He would die on the next day.  That would be the bloody sacrifice on the Cross.  

But Jesus wanted this unbloody sacrifice to continue on earth till the end of time.  When He told the Apostles to do as He had done, He made them priests and gave them power to offer this sacrifice.  

So when I was young, I often saw my grandmother asking the priest to give her Holy Communion, whether it was mass time or outside mass timing.  She always liked to come to our house, wearing slippers and she would always washed her feet in our toilet.  The next thing that she like would be washing her hands too.  

I was told that my grandmother passed away peacefully 'in her sleep' in the year 1988.  Look at the family photograph above.  The years have passed.  Four people were not here anymore.  They were my grandparents, my father and my third maternal uncle. And I was 'dead' and was 'raised' again...

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