Friday, March 28, 2008
Update to Previous Post
In my last post on the Baptism of converts, I mentioned that I did not know if any of the others who were baptized last Saturday at the Easter Vigil had been previously baptized. As it turns out, from a well trusted source, they probably were not baptized previously because the Roman Catholic Church does not necessarily re-baptize those coming into the Church. Case in point, the source mentioned that there were 6 who were received into the Church, but only 3 baptisms. I just wanted to clear up any possible confusion.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Easter Truth
I realize that it has been a long time since I last posted something. The rigors of Lent and Easter really wore me out.
Since my days at NWC I have enjoyed a new tradition at Easter--attending Easter Vigil. Attending this service really highlights for me the importance of celebrating the resurrection of Christ. My first year at NPTS I attended Easter Vigil at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. The highlight of that warm April Holy Saturday evening was shaking the hand of Cardinal Francis George. He did not even know that I was not Roman Catholic! The bus ride left something to be desired though, but that is a story for another time.
Since I am new to the community and the newspapers really did not advertise much about Easter Vigil services, I ended up staying home and watching the Easter Vigil live from the Vatican, it started at 3pm Central. Of course there was everything one would expect at an Easter Vigil, except for the fact that there was a lot more Italian or Latin, I could not tell most of the time which was being spoken, but I knew how the service was progressing.
Of course the highlight of Easter Vigil is the proclamation that Christ is Risen, but also another important part is the reception of newly baptized believers. I am going to discuss the merits or demerits of re-baptizing--especially since we do not know if most of the baptized were baptized before or not. What has really been upsetting to me over these last few days is the attention that one of the baptized has been receiving. In fact, during the service I was not even aware of how much controversy was surrounding this one individual, but the headline says it all: "Pope Baptizes Muslim." As an eyewitness to the sacrament, I did not see a Muslim there. It is a curious title though because why would the pope or any pastor baptize a Muslim. The man at the center of this claims himself that he was not a Muslim and he was not a Muslim standing in the presence of the pope, he was already a Christian when he was baptized, when he was confirmed, when he brought the gifts to the altar, and when he took his first communion.
The other thing that does not make sense to me is why this is a world wide media event. The man, prompted by the Holy Spirit and not forced, made a free and willing declaration that he has become a Christian, that Christ has come into his life and captured him. Why is that news? While I can not speak to that question the fact remains the risen Christ is still moving in this world. The picture that I see is of Jesus the shepherd leaving the 99 sheep (and by the way do we even know the stories about the 6 others who were baptized that night) and going after the 1.
The pope was right when he talked about the fact that the Light of Easter--the risen Christ, and baptism, and in Holy Communion we see Christ and this one gentleman saw Christ as well. Some may think that he was forced into believing, forced into a show on Easter Eve, but I do not think that is the case, for when we allow Christ to take over our lives we seen the world in a new light--the Light of Christ who died for our sins and was raised again to show that God loves us so much that he was willing to die and that is the power that overtook this newspaper editor. I know that there are those who would like to see him killed for converting to Christianity, but what will that prove? As the world witnessed his baptism his commitment is sure and his faith has been made real in his baptism. The only thing that his death would prove is that the Christian faith is true and that Easter is true. Perhaps that is just the message we need to hear at Easter--that Christ's resurrection from the dead is true and that it captivates all who are willing to listen to it!
Christ is Risen!
He is Risen indeed!
Since my days at NWC I have enjoyed a new tradition at Easter--attending Easter Vigil. Attending this service really highlights for me the importance of celebrating the resurrection of Christ. My first year at NPTS I attended Easter Vigil at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. The highlight of that warm April Holy Saturday evening was shaking the hand of Cardinal Francis George. He did not even know that I was not Roman Catholic! The bus ride left something to be desired though, but that is a story for another time.
Since I am new to the community and the newspapers really did not advertise much about Easter Vigil services, I ended up staying home and watching the Easter Vigil live from the Vatican, it started at 3pm Central. Of course there was everything one would expect at an Easter Vigil, except for the fact that there was a lot more Italian or Latin, I could not tell most of the time which was being spoken, but I knew how the service was progressing.
Of course the highlight of Easter Vigil is the proclamation that Christ is Risen, but also another important part is the reception of newly baptized believers. I am going to discuss the merits or demerits of re-baptizing--especially since we do not know if most of the baptized were baptized before or not. What has really been upsetting to me over these last few days is the attention that one of the baptized has been receiving. In fact, during the service I was not even aware of how much controversy was surrounding this one individual, but the headline says it all: "Pope Baptizes Muslim." As an eyewitness to the sacrament, I did not see a Muslim there. It is a curious title though because why would the pope or any pastor baptize a Muslim. The man at the center of this claims himself that he was not a Muslim and he was not a Muslim standing in the presence of the pope, he was already a Christian when he was baptized, when he was confirmed, when he brought the gifts to the altar, and when he took his first communion.
The other thing that does not make sense to me is why this is a world wide media event. The man, prompted by the Holy Spirit and not forced, made a free and willing declaration that he has become a Christian, that Christ has come into his life and captured him. Why is that news? While I can not speak to that question the fact remains the risen Christ is still moving in this world. The picture that I see is of Jesus the shepherd leaving the 99 sheep (and by the way do we even know the stories about the 6 others who were baptized that night) and going after the 1.
The pope was right when he talked about the fact that the Light of Easter--the risen Christ, and baptism, and in Holy Communion we see Christ and this one gentleman saw Christ as well. Some may think that he was forced into believing, forced into a show on Easter Eve, but I do not think that is the case, for when we allow Christ to take over our lives we seen the world in a new light--the Light of Christ who died for our sins and was raised again to show that God loves us so much that he was willing to die and that is the power that overtook this newspaper editor. I know that there are those who would like to see him killed for converting to Christianity, but what will that prove? As the world witnessed his baptism his commitment is sure and his faith has been made real in his baptism. The only thing that his death would prove is that the Christian faith is true and that Easter is true. Perhaps that is just the message we need to hear at Easter--that Christ's resurrection from the dead is true and that it captivates all who are willing to listen to it!
Christ is Risen!
He is Risen indeed!
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