The Tsunami That Is Baptism
April 2, 2025
Fr. John Riccardo
Brothers and sisters: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you (Romans 8:8-11).
The film centers around a British family (in real life they were from Spain), vacationing in Thailand for Christmas. They were together at a resort pool when the gargantuan wave rose up out of the ocean like a massive black wall and then crashed on land. Immediately, they were thrown by the force of the wave and carried away from each other by the rushing water. Incredibly, they not only all survived but were able to find each other after enduring an ordeal that few of us can imagine. Their survival and reunion is the plot of the movie.
I remember walking out of the theater and immediately thinking of baptism. Water, as The Impossible shows in harrowing detail, can be utterly devastating. Everything in its path can be destroyed. And yet, water is also essential for life. We can go weeks without food and survive, but not so with water. We will die without it.
Once again, this reading, together with the 1st Reading and Gospel this coming Sunday, is selected primarily for those who are about to be baptized at the Easter Vigil in just a little over two weeks now. They are meant to help them understand what is going to happen to them sacramentally. As they walk into the font (or have water poured over their heads) they are at one and the same time going to die and be reborn to new life.
Baptism, like the tsunami, causes things to drown. What things? Sin, guilt, the pasts by which we feel haunted. I know few things as a priest that compare with standing inside the font at the Easter Vigil, waiting in the water for those standing outside it to step in. As a person stands at the top step of the font the Creed is posed to them in question format:
“Do you believe in God the Father almighty?” As they answer, “I do!” they take a first step and the water is up to their ankle.
“Do you believe in Jesus Christ His only Son…?” “I do!” Another step, and now the water is up to their knees.
“Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church…?” “I do!” Another step and the water is above their waist.
“I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” And with the invocation of each Person of the Trinity the water is profusely poured over their heads and they at one and the same time die and come to new life. Just as that black ocean wall rose up and wrecked everything in its path, so the waters of baptism destroy the guilt that clung so closely to them from their pasts. Sin is really destroyed in the water. But as water also enables a person to live so the one in the font receives the Holy Spirit and becomes a new creation and is enabled to begin again.
Let us increase our prayers for those soon to be immersed in the saving waters of baptism. Let us beg the Spirit who lives in us who have already been baptized to live ever more fully the new life He gave us whenever that day was. And let us ask the Lord God to give us concrete opportunities in this week to speak of the One who desires that all be saved and gathered together into His family.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
April 2025
For Archbishop Edward Weisenburger, our new shepherd for the Archdiocese of Detroit. Please continue to pray for him and the entire archdiocese in this time of transition and his leadership in the years to come. St. Anne, pray for us.
For our Board of Directors meeting this month, that our time together would be a time of gratitude, fellowship and an opportunity to share with them what God is doing in the mission. Please pray for all our Board members, for they are a gift to us.
Please pray for all those who partner with us to help renew the human family of God, both in our country and across the world. May God richly bless those who both pray for us and financially support the mission.
Please pray for all those running The Rescue Project, that lives will be transformed so as to go out and to be agents of recreation in this world that God loves.
For God’s protection upon Fr. John Riccardo and the ACTS XXIX family.
