Bulletin article for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

For the majority of us, baptism was not something we chose for ourselves. Rather, our parents chose it for us shortly after we were born. At the time of my baptism, Latin was the language used for the ritual, and it was just as well, for within the old ritual of baptism, the priest actually performed an exorcism on the baby being baptized. Imagine how freaked out parents would have been had they understood that the priest was exorcising the devil out of their little baby. While the ritual has evolved and the language changed, the one thing that has not changed is the promise the parents make to raise their children to love God with all their heart, soul, and strength, and to love their neighbor as themselves. I remember when Ruthie and I were asked whether we clearly understood what this meant at the baptism of our first child, we answered a very confident and resounding, “Yes!” By the time our fourth child was born, we answered the same question with a humble, “huh-huh.” At the time he was baptized in the Jordan, Jesus opened a gateway to heaven for those who choose it, but it requires us to live a life in which God matters the most and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This not for the weak of heart for it flies in the face of human experience in which others place themselves first before God and others. As Norm, on the TV Comedy, Cheers, once explained, “It’s a dog eat dog world, and I am wearing milk bone underwear.” St Paul writes that while baptism frees us from this sub-human curse of Original Sin, the tendency remains and we must choose to live out our love for God and neighbor daily in our lives.