When the Lord waded down the River Jordan and was baptized by John, the sacrament of baptism was inaugurated. Before ascending to heaven, Jesus made baptism a mandate, saying, “Go...make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28,15).

It is to the immense credit of Christian parents that they take to heart the baptism of their children.

It seems, however, that many baptized children grow up grossly ignorant of religious instructions and their obligations as Christians.

The theologian Bernard Cooke in his book, Christian Sacraments and Christian Personality, writes: "Our baptism is not an action which happens once and has no further significance for our life. Rather, all the significance of this sacrament passes dynamically into the daily living of the Christian."

In other words, it is not enough for us just to accept baptism passively or as something done to us. There must be a follow-up. Our baptism should become an operative power impelling us to act as Christ did.

The absence of this "operative power" of baptism engenders a piety that's split between faith and practice in day-to-day life. Or, as somebody remarked, “We are baptized but not evangelized.”

One reason behind this religious malady is that our Christian faith and morals have not really permeated and influenced the various spheres of socio-economic and political life.

To illustrate: Once I was trying to settle the quarrel between two feuding relatives. "Forgive one another," I appealed. "God told us to forgive."

The lady shot back with a reply that almost floored me: "Father, pwede ba, huwag natin isama ang Diyos sa usapan na ito!" (Father, please, let's not include God in this talk!).

Because many Christians fail to practice the Christian values and obligations, for instance, to be forgiving, honest, just, charitable, Christianity as a strong moral force in society is ineffective.

Baptismal faith should mature. It should influence our day-to-day life, relationships and transactions. Parents should teach their children by good example to follow God’s 10 Commandments or the universal law: “Do good and avoid evil.”

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Thoughts of baptism. There are Catholics who come to church three times only in their whole lifetime--when baptized, married, buried or, as someone put it, when “hatched, matched, dispatched” (to the cemetery or columbarium). This happens when parents fail to instruct their children’s religious obligations.

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Some years ago in the USA, the news media reported that a father had his one-year-old son baptized 26 times in three years.

When he was asked by a reporter why he had done this, the father answered, "Very simple. Each new godfather was good for at least one loan."

The use of religion for material gain, as related above, is grossly immoral. In the Philippines, it's more of having many godparents to serve as political or social connections.

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Appeal for Seminarians. We Filipinos are very blessed because there are still a good number of young men who wish to become priests and missionaries.

May I appeal to our readers to chip in or sponsor our seminarians' schooling for one year.

For inquiry, e-mail: [email protected].