In the second reading today we hear the incredible words that we who are buried with Christ in the death of Baptism will also be raised with Him. The waters of Baptism are powerful. The gift of Baptism is one sacrament that remains forever. This God of covenant remains faithful. The symbol of the water of Baptism is most profoundly experienced in the immersion of one body in water. In our parish we see the power of that water at the Easter Vigil when a full pitcher of water cascades over the recipient of Baptism. Preceding the water ritual of the rite, we hear the covenant of baptismal promises and we hear the Litany of the Saints. This litany is always sung or recited at a Baptism. It is an intercession of spiritual power. We are asking the power that transformed the lives of the saints to be saints to be with the individual about to be baptized. This happens before one enters the waters of Baptism. It is a reminded of the death we are to embrace in these waters and the new life we will experience when we come out it. We are a new creation cleansed and pure for God.

One of the more captivating baptismal founts I ever saw was in Israel. By the Sea of Galilee, there is a church where it is believed that Jesus fed the five thousand and multiplied the loaves and fish. In the courtyard of the church there is a baptismal fount formed in the earliest of times. It is a pool in the shape of the cross. It has steps leading in and steps leading out of the pool. The catechized adult to be baptized would enter the water by going down three steps—the number three being significant for Father, Son and Spirit. The priest or bishop doing the baptizing would stand in the water on one side inviting the baptized to profess their faith. When the question was asked, they would be shoved backwards into the water and be submerged. As they were let up gasping for air they would hear the next question and once again be submerged. After all the questions were asked, the baptized then would leave the fount and exit stepping up three steps out of the water. This served to once again as a reminder that it is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that has given the baptized new life and that they are now raised with Christ, just as they have physically risen out of the pool of water. They entered the cross from one side and exited it from the opposite side. This simple gesture reminded the faith-filled newly baptized that they had been buried with Jesus into the mystery of the cross.

I have always been captivated by the early Church and its pure and earthy expression of sacraments. The early Church fathers used simple means to communicate powerful realities. We are buried in the cross of Christ and we who profess this faith are then to rise from the water and know of our risen life. Today we are called to reflect on the power of God who transforms our lives, who stays true to the covenant, and invites us to realize the new life we are given as a gift.

May the waters that renew us this summer never quench our desire for new life with Him.