Today is the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus, so our gospel reading features John Baptiser, baptising Jesus to fulfill all righteousness. But here Jesus also prefigures the primal sacrament of Christian baptism which will be initiated by his successors, the apostles, as the rite by which one enters the Catholic Church. Now in our New Testament reading from Acts 8: 14-17 we see that Jesus' ragtag collection of twelve apostles has become the unified Apostolic College in control of the mission of the fledgling Church. Notice that there is no Pope, rather a collegial leadership; and they choose to send Peter and John down to see the Samaritan converts.
Just a word about Samaritans. They were bitter enemies of ordinary Jews. They did not accept the same books of Scripture as Jews did; they had a stricter, more literal interpretation of keeping Shabbat; they accepted the priesthood only as exercised by families they recognized; and said that sacrtifice could only be made in their temple on Mount Gerizim, not in Jerusalem. (You remember that elsewhere Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that worship will soon be in neither place, rather it will be "in spirit and truth.") To make matters even worse, they considered themselves God's true People, because they had not been exiled to Babylon, as had the mainstream Jewish population.
Some Samaritans have converted to Christianity but have only been baptised. John and Peter soon arrive, administer the sacrament of confirmation, and the candidates receive the Holy Spirit. Thus, those converts have now been commissioned. They have received their marching orders to go out being Christ in the world. Today a group of eight people will stand for your consideration to serve as the Bishop's Committee, the lay body governing our congregation in all matters except Christian education and worship, which are reserved to the priest alone. Of these eight candidates, five were only recently confirmed here by a bishop in apostolic succession, Bishop Wallis Ohl. Please look kindly on their willingness to realize their Christian commissions by stepping forward to offer their time and several talents at this crucial juncture of substantial growth and healthy ministry at Saint Matthew's.
[The eight were elected by acclamation.]
No comments:
Post a Comment