Is baptism just a passport for heaven?

 It is good to dust off our passports from time if only to remember the times when we could travel. Often when we request a passport it allows us to recognize our identity of being a citizen of a particular country. In the front of the Australian passport, it has the following words, "The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, being the representative in Australia of Her Majesty Queen of Elizabeth the Second, requests all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer, an Australian Citizen, to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford him or her every assistance and protection of which he or she may stand in need." This allows us to notice the person who governs our life, our need to travel freely and to be provided with the assistance that we need. 

Yet sometimes we can rely more on the rights that the passport provides rather than responsibilities it engages us with. The passport while an important document does not fully express who we are called to be when we travel. Similarly, baptism is not something that happens to us in the distant past but rather an entry into a living relationship with the person of Jesus Christ in the midst of His community the Church. This is not just an insurance policy that guarantees our entrance into heaven but rather an invitation to live in communion with God. It is a visible reminder of an inner life that can transform us and our world.

So how do we live out our baptism in daily life? I believe each person is called into a living relationship with Jesus Christ for their own good and the good of the whole community. This means that we are not only gifted with Holy Spirit to deepen that relationship but each of us is gifted to build up a community of faith that witnesses that relationship in our world. We are not just called to be Christian in name only but rather people who proclaim His life through our own. As a Church community, what do we need from each other to make us effective witnesses? Where do I find myself coming most alive with the joy of being prayerfully aware of His life in my own? How will I find unity between who I am called to be and how I live my life?

I believe this is the challenge of our time. Sacraments are not things that just get done but rather a doorway into a deeper and more personal expression of how we are called to be present to God with our lives. As we enter into this New Year may we discover where God is prompting us to abide prayerfully with others and with ourselves? Allowing the Good News to form us in being present to a world in great need of discovering the truth of what it means to be a citizen of heaven.