25 May 2020
Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter
In today’s reading, we hear Paul’s response to Christ’s invitation to take the Gospel to “the ends of the earth.” One of the places Paul was a missionary was in Ephesus. Here, Paul brought the gifts of Christ’s baptism and the Holy Spirit to those who had only received a baptism of repentance. This baptism of repentance, the baptism of John, is the one that prepared their hearts for the reception of Christ, but it did not give them this new life. It is the baptism of Christ that transmits – as Acts makes clear – new life in the Spirit. Today, Christians do not usually receive a baptism of repentance prior to our Christian baptism, nevertheless, as St. Augustine reminds us, this baptism of repentance has a role to play in the Christian life.
Augustine thought that Christians, in their lives, undergo two kinds of baptisms: the first is the baptism of water where original sin is washed away and they are born as children of Christ; the second baptism is a more metaphorical washing through the tears of contrition and repentance when people are convicted of their sins and their need of God’s mercy. Augustine wrote, “one tear coming from a pure heart extinguishes all the fires of hell. Therefore, give me, in this exile, the bread of sorrow and of tears, for which I hunger beyond every abundance of riches.” This baptism by tears reflects a growth in one’s spiritual life as our hearts become more alive and tender toward the reality of sin and the love of God. The Church recognizes the spiritual value of this interior contrition and baptism of repentance that is necessary in the spiritual life. Sacramentally, contrition is a necessary condition for the reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Augustine’s bread of sorrow and tears is not to be understood as gloom and depression, but rather a healthy sense of the magnitude of God’s mercy, the reality of sin and its effects, and our own sinfulness and need of God. These tears lead the soul closer to the Lord and pave the way for an increase in the reception of God’s grace, and the fruits of the Spirit. The great saints, like Augustine, teach us about the power that true contrition has to generate in us a greater capacity to receive God’s love, his gifts, and to conform more closely to his Sacred Heart.
Our baptism into life with Christ is a beautiful reality, but we know we can sully this gift through our sin. Today’s readings remind us of the importance of our continual baptism of repentance, which is needed throughout our lives, and can lead to a renewal of our Christian life and a new capacity in us to receive greater outpourings of Christ’s spirit.