Speaker 1: Everyone, God bless you. Thanks so much for tuning in.
Speaker 2: It has made my heart so happy these last few
Speaker 2: years that so many people are pouring into the Church
Speaker 2: and seeking the great grace of union with Jesus Christ
Speaker 2: in holy baptism. Baptism is the sacred right through which
Speaker 2: you enter into the Church. If you want to become
Speaker 2: a member of the Body of Christ, you want to
Speaker 2: take up your position in the Church, that's done through baptism.
Speaker 2: Baptism is the first of Christian sacraments. Together with Chrismation
Speaker 2: and the Eucharist, those three sacraments form what we call
Speaker 2: the rites of initiation. This is how a person becomes
Speaker 2: a Christian, says how a person establishes himself as a
Speaker 2: member of the Church united to Christ.
Speaker 1: Here are the major miracles that take.
Speaker 2: Place when a person is baptized, is baptized, they are
Speaker 2: united to Christ. They literally become in dwelt by God.
Speaker 2: This union with Christ, which is Saint All's favorite description
Speaker 2: of what a Christian is. A Christian is a human
Speaker 2: being in Christ and CHRISTO And how do you become Christ?
Speaker 2: Though you become in Christ through holy baptism. Do you
Speaker 2: not know that all of us who have been baptized
Speaker 2: into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death. Therefore
Speaker 2: we have been buried with him through baptism into death,
Speaker 2: so that as Christ was raised from the dead through
Speaker 2: the glory of the Father, so we two might walk
Speaker 2: in newness of life. For if we have been united
Speaker 2: with Him in the likeness of his death, certainly we
Speaker 2: shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing
Speaker 2: this that our old self was crucified with him in
Speaker 2: order that our body of sin might be done away with,
Speaker 2: so that we would no longer be slaves to sin,
Speaker 2: For he who has died is freed from sin. Now,
Speaker 2: if we have died with Christ, we believe that we
Speaker 2: also shall live with him. This is a marvelous text,
Speaker 2: and as I said, it's read actually in the sacrament itself,
Speaker 2: in the service itself. We're buried with Christ into his
Speaker 2: death and raised with Christ into his resurrection.
Speaker 1: In baptism.
Speaker 2: Saint Paul says, this is why the Church baptizes by
Speaker 2: trying or triple immersion. And immersion we immerse and the
Speaker 2: person emerges three times in the name of the Father
Speaker 2: and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And
Speaker 2: in this miracle. In this sacrament and this mystery, a
Speaker 2: person is joined to Christ, literally bound to his death
Speaker 2: and his resurrection. You die to sin, and you are
Speaker 2: joined to Christ's life, his resurrection life. You come out
Speaker 2: of the baptismal font no longer a slave to sin,
Speaker 2: no longer tyrannized, but now joined to Christ. The great
Speaker 2: twentieth century theologian who suffered for Christ in Romania, Saint
Speaker 2: Dmitri Standaloi. He says, after we have accepted death to
Speaker 2: sin in baptism, together with that death, which is the
Speaker 2: sacrifice of our being offered to God, we must therefore
Speaker 2: go go on with the process of dying. Not the
Speaker 2: death of the old man, because he has died definitively,
Speaker 2: but death as continuous surrender to God.
Speaker 1: Together with Christ.
Speaker 2: He remains in the state of sacrifice of self giving
Speaker 2: to God, so that we too might be with him
Speaker 2: in this same sacrificial condition. We die to sin by
Speaker 2: being joined to Christ, and then we emerge from the
Speaker 2: waters united to Him. In this state of offering ourselves
Speaker 2: to God. This is what constitutes true love for God
Speaker 2: and the Christian life. It's a marvelous, marvelous text. The
Speaker 2: life that he lives, he lives to God. Likewise, you
Speaker 2: also reckon yourselves to be dead, indeed to sin, but
Speaker 2: alive to God in Christ, Jesus our Lord. So this
Speaker 2: is the first great miracle of baptism. It's a union
Speaker 2: with Christ. We die to sin. With Christ, we rise
Speaker 2: to life, and we take up this position of offering
Speaker 2: our hearts, our life to God.
Speaker 1: This is how Christians live.
Speaker 2: A second miracle of holy baptism is new birth. Is
Speaker 2: new birth. We see this, of course in Jesus's conversation
Speaker 2: with Nicodemus in the third chapter of Saint John's Gospel,
Speaker 2: where Jesus speaks about being born from again, being born
Speaker 2: again by water and the spirit. This is also a
Speaker 2: beautifully described by Saint Paul and his epistle to his
Speaker 2: spiritual son Titus in chapter three. I'll read this to you.
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful text. But when the kindness of God,
Speaker 2: our Savior, and his love for mankind appeared, he saved
Speaker 2: us not on the basis of deeds which we have
Speaker 2: done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the
Speaker 2: washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Here
Speaker 2: again you have this beautiful description of holy baptism as
Speaker 2: a washing of regeneration and a renewal of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: This is new birth, the second great miracle of baptism.
Speaker 2: Another miracle of baptism is the complete remission of sins.
Speaker 2: Saint John Chrisostom describes in great detail his baptismal instructions.
Speaker 2: These are instructions given to catechumens and those who are
Speaker 2: newly lumined about baptism, and he says that no matter
Speaker 2: what darkness, whatever what stain on your soul you have,
Speaker 2: when you go into the baptismal font and come out,
Speaker 2: you are made resplendent. You are completely washed and forgiven,
Speaker 2: and you come out radiant, So radiant he says that
Speaker 2: the angels can't bear the glory of your face and
Speaker 2: have to turn away. Can you imagine the mercy of
Speaker 2: God in baptism to take sinners like ourselves and to
Speaker 2: do a cleansing light We could never imagine a forgiveness
Speaker 2: of our sins like we could never dream of. A
Speaker 2: fourth miracle is that baptism incorporates you into the Body
Speaker 2: of Christ, into the Church. Baptism is entrance into the Church.
Speaker 2: Saint Paul writes this in First Corinthians, Chapter twelve, verse
Speaker 2: thirteen four. By one spirit, we were all baptized into
Speaker 2: one body. How do you become a member of the church.
Speaker 2: It's not by signing a pledge card. It's not just
Speaker 2: by showing up either or just by saying a prayer
Speaker 2: and asking Jesus to be your savior in your closet.
Speaker 2: As wonderful as all of those things are a plus
Speaker 2: on all those things, but that's not the way that
Speaker 2: you become a member of the Church, the body of Christ.
Speaker 2: Saint Gregor that Theolochian says, baptism is the striking of
Speaker 2: a covenant for a second life, for a second life.
Speaker 2: I think that's super beautiful, and we could go on
Speaker 2: and on. It's baptism is also the indwelling of the
Speaker 2: Holy Spirit. The Church calls baptism fotisms or illumination. It
Speaker 2: affects everything. Baptism gives us a whole new site on
Speaker 2: how we interpret the world. Salvation is if salvation itself
Speaker 2: is what baptism is. This is the summation of the
Speaker 2: miracles of baptism. It is simply salvation. And Saint Peter
Speaker 2: says that in his First Epistle three verse twenty one.
Speaker 2: He says, Baptism now saves you for incredible words. Baptism
Speaker 2: now saves you an incredible text. Salvation is something that's
Speaker 2: given definitively in baptism, something that is worked out, as
Speaker 2: Saint Paul says, right, work out your salvation with fear
Speaker 2: and trembling. It's worked out through the process of loving
Speaker 2: God and keeping his words. If you love me, Jesus said,
Speaker 2: keep my commandments, and salvation is progressive. It's definitive in baptism,
Speaker 2: and then it grows. Your sanctification grows. The process of
Speaker 2: conforming your life to Christ grows by keeping the commandments.
Speaker 1: Of course, that's very clear in the Great Commission, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Jesus says to his disciples, go into all the world,
Speaker 2: make disciples of all the nations. How do you begin
Speaker 2: a disciple baptizing them in the name of the Father,
Speaker 2: Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that
Speaker 2: I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you
Speaker 2: even to the end of the age. This is the
Speaker 2: commission of the Church. The miracle of baptism brings salvation
Speaker 2: and brings you into a life of progressive sanctification. It
Speaker 2: is in fact the constitutive part of discipleship. It's how
Speaker 2: you begin discipleship is by receiving your catechism and being baptized.
Speaker 2: The great Saint Nicholas Cabasilas He says, baptism engraves an
Speaker 2: image and in parts of form to our souls by
Speaker 2: conforming them to the death and resurrection of the Savior.
Speaker 2: It is then that we are formed and shaped, and
Speaker 2: are shapeless and undefined. Life receives shape and definition. Besides,
Speaker 2: we become known to Him who knows his own. On
Speaker 2: this day we hear the significant word our own name.
Speaker 2: The servant of God, John, for instance, is baptized in
Speaker 2: the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. On
Speaker 2: this day we hear the significant word our name, as
Speaker 2: though then we were properly known.
Speaker 1: For to be known by God is to become truly known.
Speaker 2: This is from Saint Nicholas Cambasilasis The Life in Christ,
Speaker 2: an incredible text.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: These days young people especially use this language of wanting
Speaker 2: to be and needing to be seen. They want to
Speaker 2: be seen well. The way to be seen is to
Speaker 2: be baptized, be catechized, be formed into disciples of Christ.
Speaker 2: And in holy baptism, be named. Let God give you
Speaker 2: your name, Let Him know you as one of his own.
Speaker 2: Let Christ become your shepherd, and you his sheep, and
Speaker 2: he calls his sheep by name. You're seen by Christ,
Speaker 2: known by God. It's marvelous. We could go on and
Speaker 2: on on the miracles of baptism. Baptism is called regeneration
Speaker 2: on the enecees, clothing with Christ, washing away of scene
Speaker 2: of sin apolusis adoption, weal, theesia, illumination, fotismos a planting,
Speaker 2: a first resurrection. These are all scriptural names for the
Speaker 2: miracles of holy baptism. Baptism is a great gift. It
Speaker 2: is God's will that every human being be joined to
Speaker 2: Jesus our Savior through holy baptism. Those of you who
Speaker 2: are baptized, thank God for the miracles of your baptism.
Speaker 2: Live them out faithfully. And those of you who are
Speaker 2: not yet baptized, it's time. This time, God is calling
Speaker 2: you to become his own. God be with you and
Speaker 2: keep you. Hey, everyone, I hope you've downloaded the Patristic
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Speaker 2: of soul nourishing content and I hope you'll consider becoming
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