We were baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, to enter into communion with the Most Blessed Trinity. In a certain way the heavens have been opened for each one of us, so that we may enter the house of God and know the divine filiation. If you have true piety," teaches St. Cyril of Jerusalem, "the Holy Spirit will also descend upon you and you will hear the voice of the Father from on high saying: this is not my Son, but now after Baptism he has become Mine "7. Divine filiation was one of the great gifts we received on the day we were baptized. St. Paul speaks to us of this filiation and, addressing every baptized person, he does not hesitate to pronounce these very happy words: You are no longer a slave but a son; and if a son, then an heir8.
The rite of this sacrament indicates that configuration to Christ takes place through spiritual regeneration, as Jesus taught Nicodemus: whoever is not born again of water and the Holy Spirit cannot enter the Kingdom of God9. "Christian Baptism is, in fact, a mystery of death and resurrection: immersion in baptismal water symbolizes and actualizes the burial of Jesus on earth and the death of the old man, while emersion signifies the resurrection of Christ and the birth of the new man "10.
This new birth is the foundation of divine sonship. And thus, by this sacrament, "men are grafted into the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ: they die with Him, are buried with Him and are raised with Him; they receive the spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry Abba! Father! (Rom 8:15), and thus become the true worshippers whom the Father seeks "11. This sonship brings with it the annihilation of all sin of the soul and the infusion of grace.
Through Baptism, original sin and all personal sins are forgiven, as well as the eternal and temporal punishment due for sins. To be configured with the risen Christ, symbolized in the emersion of the baptismal water, indicates that divine grace, the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit have settled in the soul of the baptized, which has become the dwelling place of the Most Holy Trinity, and the gates of Heaven are opened to the Christian, and the angels and saints rejoice. In human nature there remain those consequences of original sin which, although proceeding from it, are not in themselves sin, but incline to it; the baptized man remains subject to the possibility of wandering, to concupiscence and to death, all of which are consequences of original sin. Baptism, however, has already sown in the human body the seed of a glorious renewal and resurrection.
What an enormous difference between the person who went, or was taken, on the way to the church to receive this sacrament, and the one who returns already baptized! The Christian "comes out of Baptism shining like the sun and, more importantly, returns from it as a child of God and co-heir with Christ.
12 Let us give many thanks to the Lord for so much good, which we would like to understand today in all its greatness. Finally, we ask you... Lord, we humbly ask that we listen in faith to the word of your Son so that we may be called and be, in truth, your children13. This is our greatest desire and our greatest aspiration.
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