The Holy Martyr Hyacinth of Amastris; Holy Martyr Emilian (360-63)
1 Corinthians 5:9-6:11; Matthew 13:54-58
Read 1 Corinthians 5:9-6:11
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
How often to you recall your baptism? Yes, yes, yes… many of us were baptised as infants. How could we ever recall our own baptism? Is that even possible? Well, let’s not try to recall the experience of the ritual of baptism, let’s recall the experience (the fact) of baptism, and then try to answer the question: what happened? When were washed in the waters of baptism, we died and rose again in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We were sanctified (made holy), that is, we were set apart as a member of a community known as the Body of Christ (as He is the Head). And each of us and all of us who belong to this Body were justified, healed of all sin and its woundedness.
As baptised in Christ, we are to live together as a Body, as a community, that is set apart from the world in order to continue the Lord’s mission for the world. As a community, we are to treat each other as the Lord treated us. We are to wash each other’s feet. In the words of Catherine Doherty, we are to be a people of the towel and water. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul echoes this when he writes: “be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:18-21). When conflict arises between members of the Body, when we are wrong and deprived, we are to remonstrate with each other, and charitably correct each other. And if unresolved, we can even give in to the demands of our Christian brother or sister knowing that in the end, when Christ returns, His justice will ultimately win the day. As Christians, love and the Cross, and lifting up of each other, all come before our little individual rights.
What we read in today’s epistle from Paul to the Christians in Corinth could have easily been written by him for us today. As the Body of Christ, this reading serves as a reminder that we need to recall our baptism frequently that we may truly live as our Master desires! Come, Lord Jesus!