Lent has its origins in the preparation of catechumens for baptism at the great celebration of the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night.With the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults the Church has restore this wonderful connection between baptism and the season of Lent.
Throughout the course of the Sundays of Lent, there are rituals (exorcisms, giving of the creed, etc.) involving the catechumens placed within the Sunday Eucharistic Liturgy.In this way, the whole Christian community is meant to be drawn into prayer for those to be baptized at Easter and, further, to deeper reflection on our own baptism, the promises of which we will all renew at the Easter Vigil.
In this Sunday’s first reading (Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18), we have the account of God’s call and promise given to Abram.God’s call always contains within it a promise.A new future, marked by new and fullness of life, necessarily flows from the call of God placed on our lives.
The gospel (Lk 9:28b-36) is the wonderful account of the transfiguration.Jesus takes his closest companions—Peter, John and James—up a high mountain and there is revealed, with Moses and Elijah, in splendid light.The voice of the Father can not be missed, saying “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”This event happens, of course, on the way ‘up to Jerusalem’ where the saving events of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection will soon take place.
What was it like to be Abram?Already an old man, without descendants, given the promise that he would be the father of a multitude of nations?
And to be those three, chosen disciples?To experience intensely and unmistakably the truth of the glory of Jesus?
But what about our own baptism?In baptism we were given a call with a promise of a ‘land,’ a share in the riches and splendor of the kingdom of God.In baptism, too, we were given a new relationship to Jesus, one in which we might hear his voice and follow his way through death to new life.
Baptism.To be called.To live our lives in the light of promise.Taken into relationship with the Divine Son of God.To pass always the way of death—the many little deaths we encounter in our lives—to new and fuller life.
How, in what ways, and even where have I encountered God’s call in my life?
What are the promises, the hopes flowing from my relationship with Christ do I cling to in my heart and that shape the way I live my life?
How do I go about, day by day, honoring my relationship with Jesus, listening to the voice of the Son?
How has my life of faith enabled me, empowered me to pass through the disappointments, struggles, real sufferings of life to find a more profound sense of life?
In all these ways, baptism shows itself to be an immense gift.It is, all said and done, our very share in divine life.Yes, divine life—life abundant beyond description and utterly indestructible.