“O my Jesus, I am yours and all that I have is yours through Mary, your most Holy Mother.”
“What is the vow we make in baptism? Are we conscious in our daily living of the importance of keeping this great promise?
Do you reject Satan?
I do.
And all his works?
I do.
And all his empty promises?
I do.
Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
I do.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
I do.
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
I do.
God, the all-powerful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.
Amen.
St. Augustine reminds us that “This vow is the greatest and the most indispensable of all vows.” We are called upon to relive and promise anew these vows every time we dip our fingers into the holy water that awaits us in our churches. I know that it has only been recently that I consciously revisit these vows when I make the sign of cross upon entering church with my Holy water-dipped hand. That recent conscious thought is more of a product, however, of my continuing study and journey into the significance of these pious practices that we dutifuly observe without really knowing their true meaning. It should be and is a renewal of our baptismal vows. For most of my life, I did it as a means of preparing myself, in a general sense, to celebrate Mass. I did not think about it being a renewal of my baptismal promises.
The words of these baptismal promises themselves are intimately familiar- like the lyrics of a favorite song. They can and should be a part of us. For those of us who pray the Rosary daily, almost all of the words in the baptismal vows are part of that daily reminder. Thus, there is nothing controversial or unusual about any of these promises that we are asked to make in baptism. As we analyze ourselves in this next part of the preparation for Total Consecration- Knowledge of Self, it is important to revisit this foundation and indeed make it a part of our spiritual essence.
Do we really and truly reject Satan? Earlier in this preparation journey (Day 10) , we were asked to consider whether there was “a persistent sin or vice in our life that you are not fighting against?”. That inquiry struck home with me because I discovered upon fervent prayerful reflection that there was a topic that although I was contrite and did make an effort to excise from my life, it still stuck to me and would find its way into the confessional time and time again. I consoled myself with the notion that “at least I don’t have new sins” but I’d almost “made peace with this” topic. In that sense, I hadn’t fully rejected Satan. I had allowed that remnant of evil to leave its aroma with me and continue to stain my soul. I am so grateful for this preparation process and the Holy Spirit for opening my heart to see this plain and obvious fault.
I resolve as part of this Total Consecration to ask my Blessed Mother (and my earthly Mom who has passed to be with God as my guardian angel) to pray along with me that I be fully and finally rid of this unhealthy vestige of a previous life. Only in doing so, can I begin to fullfill the promises of my Christian baptism faithfully.
Baptism is a particularly prominent theme in my life at this moment in time. My newest blessing, Teresa Alicia Calvillo, will be baptized into our Catholic Christian Church on Saturday, March 12, 2011. I am so happy that our family will get to celebrate this joyful occasion with parents who are finally awakened to the significance of this Sacrament and this occasion so that we, as a family, can learn and share with each other its significance.
Gracias a Dios!
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