7/12/2019

   Q: What do they do in baptism?
 
Taylor Wescott
Marietta
 
   A: For most Catholics, I believe baptism is a profound mystery. While most rightfully believe that at baptism we become Christian, many do not understand the meaning behind “becoming a Christian.”  In fact, in baptism, you and I have become a new creation.
   At baptism, we are cleansed of original sin and we become adopted children of God the Father through the gift of the Holy Spirit. At baptism, water is poured over the head or one is immersed in water three times at which each moment one person of the holy Trinity is named or the priest or deacon says, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
   At that moment, each one of us becomes the adopted son or daughter of God, for his son, Jesus Christ, gave us the gift of baptism when he was baptized in the Jordan by St. John the Baptist. In fact, we willingly are baptized even as infants, for our parents and godparents speak on our behalf.
 
   Q: Why don’t we celebrate Passover if Jesus did?
 
Jack Koontz
St. Clairsville
 
   A: We all recall at the Last Supper Jesus celebrated with his disciples in the upper room. Together, Jesus celebrated Passover with his disciples offering a remembrance of that first Passover Moses had in Egypt.  The Passover meal each year ended a remembrance of the deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt, as well as to commemorate the covenant between God and Israel. At the Last Supper, and in his subsequent passion, death, resurrection and ascension to the Father, Jesus changed Passover forever.
   Each celebration of the sacrifice of the Mass is a celebration similar to the Passover of old, but now we have more than simply a memorial or remembrance: The paschal mystery occurs each time Mass is celebrated! In fact, we’ve gone beyond remembering a historical moment to having that very moment occur time and time again at the altar of sacrifice at each celebration of the Eucharist.
   Jesus utilized the Passover feast of the Old Testament to inaugurate our deliverance from the slavery of sin. The next time each one of us attends Mass, we are, in fact, participating in a Passover feast, which has been changed forever by Jesus Christ himself.
 
   Q: Do you think that modernizing the church would bring younger generations toward God?
 
Julia Buck
Martins Ferry
 
   A: This is a very good question, for you have placed within your question one of the purposes to the New Evangelization:  to bring younger generations toward God.  Certainly, St. John Paul II modernized the church with the introduction of World Youth Day in 1987, which continues to this day with our Holy Father, Pope Francis.  In addition to that, the church, herself, from the pope to Catholic bloggers, are all evangelizing and, therefore, attempting to bring younger generations to God. I attempt to do the same as bishop reaching out not simply to the flock in the Ohio Valley, but to others who are willing to listen and to learn.
   Your question may also be looked at in another way in which some assert that very makeup of the church should reflect an era or culture in which it finds itself.  We see that with other faiths, as they’ve adopted practices similar to the culture in which they find themselves. While there are many things in the church that can be altered or changed with the times, some practices cannot be, for the very integrity of the practicing question binds its source from the earliest times of the church and in the person of Jesus himself such as the sacraments, in particular such as the sacrament of matrimony, namely, marriage.
   Together, we can forge ahead to welcome younger generations and to equip them to be ambassadors of Our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church exists to evangelize the culture in which it finds itself and not the other way around.
           
May you and your family have a blessed summertime as we celebrate the beauty of this world God has so graciously given to us !