11th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

In the Rite of Baptism we are told at the Ephpeta, “May the Lord Jesus, who made the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak, grant that you may soon be able to receive His word and profess the faith to the praise and glory of God the Father.”

Baptism thus takes an individual who has inherited the stain of original sin and washes it away. Through our baptism we can proclaim with the Psalmist, “Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”

Through our baptism we have been given sanctifying grace. It is important that we do not allow such a gift to lie dormant. Instead as those who have been baptized we must be sent forth in order to live a life of faith.

The Ephpeta makes two comments, “to receive His word” and to “profess the faith to the praise and glory of God the Father.”

The reception of something requires humility on our behalf. We must realize that we are in need of the gift of God’s grace that is being bestowed upon us. We cannot receive if we remain closed to such a reality for we will be unable to hear the voice of God which is being made manifest in our life.

To profess something requires that we be sent forth to share what we have received. As is said in Saint Matthew’s Gospel, “Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lamp stand, where it gives light to all the house.” Through profession of faith are making Christ a priority of our life that we radiate wherever we may go.

Profession of faith does not require that we write books on the topic, give lectures, or preach in the public square. Profession of faith does mean that we allow our whole life to rotate around Christ. That when we are with others we live as one who has been claimed for Christ. Are our words and actions lived in accordance with the gospel?

Baptism has been and will continue to be an important element of our life. Nevertheless, we must continue to nurture this gift given to us each day. Continue to enter into relationship with God through prayer and the sacramental life of the Church. Continue to invite God’s grace to enter into your life in order that you may remain an obedient disciple of the Lord.

From Saint Ignatius of Antioch, “Let none of you turn deserter. Let your baptism be your armor; your faith, your helmet; your love, your spear; your patient endurance, your panoply.” In such manner we will “receive His word and profess the faith to the praise and glory of God the Father.”