St. Bernadette Catholic Church

For many of us who were baptized as babies, when the religious talk turns to the power of baptism and the transformation that is spoken of, we might be left scratching our heads a bit. Afterall, we never really had a before and after experience of baptism. But even those who have had an adult experience of baptism are challenged by the notion that are lives are radically transformed by this sacrament. We can be left with the feeling and thought, "OK, when does it happen?"

Our gospel reading this Sunday gives us clues of what to expect and what kind of power is to be given us. The hints come in the word "righteousness" and in the image of a dove. Righteousness unfortunately is a much maligned word. Too often it has been taken over by those who give it the appeal of "rightness" - I'm right to believe this way and you are wrong if you don't. Righteousness in its true biblical sense is acting in the spirit of God, acting in faith, and we see from the life of Jesus that acting rightly, righteousness, emanates compassion, forgiveness, and love. Note that the image descending on Jesus is not a lion or even fire, it is a gentle dove. Whenever we allow our hearts to be moved towards greater compassion, tolerance, forgiveness, and love, the power of baptism is at work. The more we respond, the greater the awareness of this power.