Most of us, as Catholics, don’t remember their Baptisms.  We don’t remember our Baptisms because we were Baptized as infants.  Maybe we’ve seen the pictures, or the video, or the scrapbook.  Maybe we still have our Baptismal candle.  Maybe we’ve heard funny stories about what happened, or how we cried through the whole thing, or maybe we just smiled at the priest as he poured water on our heads.  People who get Baptized as adults, fascinate us as Catholics.  We know that each year, several individuals get Baptized through the RCIA at the Easter Vigil Mass.  And many times we wonder as Catholics what that must be like, to kneel down inside of the Baptismal font and get dunked down into the water, or to have water poured all over.  I’ll tell you what it is like: it’s wet.  You get very wet.  I’m going to put a sign up on the Baptismal font that says, “You WILL get wet on this ride”.  On the other side of things, I know that people who have never been Baptized wonder what it is like.  I have a good friend of mine, who did RCIA just a couple of years ago, who was very apprehensive about getting Baptized.  It’s one of the reasons why he put it off for so long.  He was so concerned about what he was going to be like, when he came out of that water.  And he said, “He knew that he was not going to be the same”.  He was going to be a different person, a new man.  And that’s a pretty frightening thing.  I remember standing with him looking at the water in the Baptismal font just a couple of hours before he got Baptized, and he asked me, “How is that holy water going to change me?”  It’s a unique perspective that most of us don’t get, when we’re Baptized as infants.  He was very right, of course.  Baptism is supposed to change everything for all of us.  It is supposed to change our lives.

       John the Baptist is back as the central figure in our Gospel today.  And instead of dealing with pre-Baptismal fears, in our Gospel John the Baptist is dealing with questions from those who he just recently Baptized.  And they have some concerns also.  The real question today is, “What should we do?”  These people have heard John the Baptist’s teachings.  They’ve taken all of it to heart.  They’ve been Baptized.  They’ve gotten dried off and put their clothes back on.  And now they ask John what are they supposed to do next?  It is almost like they inherently know that they ARE supposed to do something.  They realize that they can’t be the same.  John the Baptist goes on to give them this beautiful advice on how to live the Christian life, even before anybody knew the Christ.  John tells them that they should share what they have with those who don’t have.  They should be honest, and fair, and not steal from others.  They are reminded not to be bullies, not to use fear and power to take advantage of others.  They are called to be honest and content with what they have.  This is great advice for all the Baptized.  Most of all, it is so important for all of us to know, whether we were Baptized as infants or as adults, that our Baptisms demand our participation in our Faith.  We’ve got to do something.

        This is a great message for all of us on this Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, because I gotta tell ya, I think that there are an awful lot of Catholics out there, who think that just because they are Baptized, that somehow Baptism is an automatic ticket into Heaven.  It’s not.  Baptism is just the beginning.  After we get Baptized, it is time to go to work.  It’s time to get busy living the Christian life.  At our Baptisms God does His part by washing away our sins and opening the door for us to eternal life.  After we get Baptized, it’s our turn.  We are called to live differently.

         In particular today, I don’t want us to miss the challenge that John the Baptist gives today to live selflessly.  He asks us to share what we have with others.  In 2009, almost 2010, it is hard for us to share.   We are told that we should take care of ourselves and our own first, and worry about other later.  John the Baptist gives us the special responsibility of living out our Faith by the way that we share what we have.  What we have is not ours.  God has given us everything to use for the good of all.  We should be doing so much good with all that we have.  Especially today, and even more especially in our area, that is a very difficult thing to do.  Our Baptisms wash us clean of selfishness and greed.  It is time for us to live differently.

         Our Baptisms do change us.  My friend was right to think about that BEFORE he got into that water.

We might not have had a chance to think about before we got Baptized.  But is time for all of us now to think about the ramifications of our Baptisms.  What should we do now?

May God bless us,  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…AMEN !!!