In Baptism God Comes to Dwell in our Hearts

I preached twice this Sunday, first at our livestream Sunday Mass, and then at a small Mass with the two young adults whose baptism had been postponed when churches were abruptly closed just before Easter.

Soney and Lukas,

This is the third homily I have written for you! I hope it’s the last!

First, we had the disappointment of the cancelled Easter Vigil, just days before it was to happen. Then, because of our brief Covid scare, the frustrating cancellation a week later, just minutes before we were to begin.

Well, there’s no stopping you now! About the only thing that could happen is an earthquake, in which case I’ll meet you in the parking lot with the holy water in hand.

You’ve heard the old saying “every cloud has a silver lining.” That’s just a less religious version of what St. Paul says in his Letter to the Romans: “God works for good in all things, for those who love him.”

I am convinced that God has worked for good along the bumpy road to your baptism and confirmation.

First, you’ve developed a hunger and thirst for the living water of baptism and the other sacraments. Like the woman who met Jesus at the well, and said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Second, you’ve learned something about life in the Church. She doesn’t always make things easy for us. We move in God’s time, not ours.

Third, you’ve had a lot of time to think about what Easter means. The three Sundays since April 3 have all been a replay of the Resurrection. You’ve had extra time to think about how the suffering, death, and rising of the Lord connect to your baptism.

Sure, you could be baptized any time, but there is just no time like this Easter season. St. Paul puts it quite bluntly: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

No Resurrection, no baptism.

Finally, because we’re gathered on the Fifth Sunday of Easter you get to hear today’s remarkable Gospel. It’s not about the Risen Lord but about something else. Something so important I call it the best-kept secret of Christianity.

Our Gospel reading today tells us something that even our fine RCIA program might not have taught you.

Jesus says he will abide with us if we abide with him. Abide has several meanings, but what it means here is that he will live with us—that God will make his home right within our hearts.

There are so many exciting things about baptism! It washes away original sin, opens the door to the other sacraments, especially the Eucharist, and makes us members of Christ’s Body the Church. In baptism we become a new creation, we are born again.

But tucked away among all those wonderful things is the promise Jesus makes in today’s Gospel reading: to abide in you, to live in your souls. A bit earlier in St. John’s Gospel, he makes this even clearer: “Those who love me will keep my words, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

Let me share some words from MotherAgnes Mary Donovan, who leads the Sisters of Life. She could be talking to you, Soney and Lukas, at this very moment:

At your Baptism, the living God [comes] to dwell in your heart, to fill it with the Love you have been searching for from the moment you came to be.

Jesus prayed, “Father, they are Your gift to Me. I wish that where I am they also may be with Me” (Jn 17:24). God doesn’t want to be with you just because He loves you, but because He rejoices over you — the real, unique, and unrepeatable you.

In just a few moments, Jesus will fulfill his promise to abide in you. And His Holy Spirit will deepen the indwelling of Father and Son—an intimate relationship strengthened each time you receive the Eucharist.

Perhaps all that is more than you expected. But it’s no less than what God is offering you, right now.