Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Paul then said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Altogether there were about twelve men.

In the sacrament of baptism, we receive an indelible mark on our souls that consecrates us as belonging to Christ and grants us the Holy Spirit. Once baptized, we are forever Christians. There is no way to erase the mark, even if we cut ourselves off from the Church, the Body of Christ. We will always retain the seal of our baptism. Hopefully, we do not want to rid ourselves of this holy seal, but rather to live up to it. The best way for us to live with the mark of baptism is to live out our baptismal promises with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. To proclaim our love for our Heavenly Father, His Beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit that makes up the Trinity. It was by the three personal names of our One God that we were joined with Him and His Church. And just as the Holy Spirit is the Love of Father for Son and Son for Father, so too the Church is the love of the Holy Trinity for us and us for the Holy Trinity. Our love for God and each other lives in the Church and her teachings and traditions because God is alive in her.

Are we living up to the responsibilities of being Christians? How do we manifest and magnify the indelible mark that has be left upon our souls through the sacrament of baptism? How can we more perfectly imitate the love of the Holy Trinity in our love of God and others, especially through the institution of the Church?

O Lord, send your Holy Spirit upon us so we might live and love like God.

Amen.