—Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted.—
Today we gather another of the fragments left over. Today we gather in another member of the Holy Church. Today we sing out with praise, for in this small measure of water a great sacrament begins.
In our gathering up of the fragments of humanity around us we are acting on Jesus command:
Go therefore and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Jesus asks us to waste nothing, to write-off nothing, to act and to gather, and to take this duty and command seriously.
Indeed, the regeneration that occurs in this child today makes Him a part of Christ. It joins him to the body of the Church. It commits him to achieving the perfection promised to humanity. It is a gift offered to all who desire to be known by the name Christian.
In today’s psalm we hear:
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
And what exactly are His works?
They are what you see around you. This child is His work, the people in this church are His work, all of humanity, every man, woman, and child, and you yourself are His work. Every person and aspect of creation is holy and pure —“ indeed, it is good.
My brothers and sisters,
Baptism is the doorway to perfection.
Many of us have a very low opinion of ourselves and of our humanity. We forget that the Lord’s works are holy —“ and that our Lord, with the cooperation of our parents, breathed life into us. We are indeed beautifully and wonderfully made.
Listen to the words of Psalm 139:
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew;
my bones were not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.
How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them!
Can we pause for a moment and look at ourselves? Can we say that we are made in the image and likeness of God? Can we acknowledge that God’s designs, and our part in those designs is wonderful?
God came to earth and took on human flesh. Jesus Christ came as a child and:
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
That was not an act. It was not a show that God put on so that we would like Him more. God’s action is the reality of our salvation, our knowing that the very flesh that covers our bones is worthy of God. The wonder of our faith is the message that God redeemed the world, His creation, because He deems us worthy of salvation.
Today Adam Andrew enters the door of the Church through water and the Holy Spirit. Today we will rejoice with his parents. Today we will pledge to work together, first his parents and godparents, and then all of us as a parish. We will pledge our Christian fealty and love and see to it that Adam lives in a manner worthy of the call he has received.
Today we proclaim together that there is:
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
Adam’s human potential, all his possibilities are inextricably tied to our common life in Christ Jesus.
Rejoice Adam, and continue on the road to perfection. Rejoice all Christians, and continue on the road to perfection. The road we embarked on at our baptism. The road to which we are all called. The road marked by constant striving for the love, unity, community, and brotherhood we can only know in Jesus Christ.
[dels]homilies, sermons[/dels]