This is why God asks us to devote the season of Lent to praying for and supporting those preparing for Baptism at the Easter Vigil. It’s also why he calls us to prepare to renew our own baptismal vows at the same time. And how do we prepare? By fasting and praying and giving alms. By emptying our hearts of sin and selfish desires so that we can receive Jesus and his grace to transform us more deeply.

This year we want to focus our Lenten issue on the great gifts that God has given us at our Baptism. St. Paul captured the heart of these gifts when he described Baptism in this way: “The one who gives us security with you in Christ and who anointed us is God; he has also put his seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22, emphasis added). So following Paul’s lead, our articles will focus on these gifts. First, we’ll look at the security God gives us in Christ when we are baptized. Then we’ll explore the anointing of chrism, which sets us apart for the Lord. And finally, we’ll see how Baptism seals us for eternal life.

Secure in Christ. We’re familiar with the signs and gestures that happen when a child is baptized. The parents and godparents gather around the baptismal font with their child. The priest or deacon invites them to proclaim their faith on behalf of that child and to promise to guide his or her journey to the Lord. Then he pours holy water over the child’s head three times, baptizing them “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” The child is then anointed with sacred chrism, clothed in a white garment, and given a lighted candle.

We may be accustomed to looking at these gestures and signs as just symbols of what we hope will happen as the child grows up, but something much more powerful happens. Through these signs and gestures, that child actually receives the blessings that they point toward. He is truly cleansed from original sin. He truly is filled with the Holy Spirit. He truly becomes a child of God and a member of the Church. He is a new creation!

St. Paul repeatedly speaks about our transformation from death to new life. To the believers in Rome he wrote, “We who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” (Romans 6:3). To the Galatians he proclaimed, “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (2:19-20). And to the Corinthians he said, “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

These words from Scripture tell us how secure we are in Christ. They tell us that God truly has “delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13). And when the Lord transfers us from one kingdom into another, that deliverance is firm. We don’t keep going back and forth between these two “kingdoms.” We have been claimed by Christ, and we now belong to him!

Rooted and Walking in Christ. Paul says something similar a few verses later when he tells the Colossians that they are “rooted” in Christ (2:7). We are like a tall strong tree because we have been buried, or planted, into Jesus’ own death and resurrection. Our roots are in Christ, the One who can give us the strength to flourish and produce abundant fruit.

This image of being rooted in Jesus tells us how deeply God loves us. It tells us that he has us in the palm of his hand and will never let us go. Being rooted in Christ gives us confidence because we have God in our corner, working around the clock to help us make good decisions and learn from our poor decisions. It tells us that God has filled us with unending blessings to help us in every situation, both the good and the bad, the easy and the painful.

Paul also told the Colossians that they needed to “walk” in Christ if they wanted to become strong and fruitful (2:6). When he says “walk in him,” he is referring to the way we live as baptized children of God. This idea of walking in Christ is not just a pleasant image. It’s what we do when we first wake up. It has to do with the attitudes we hold onto as we pray, work at our jobs, care for our family, and so on. The more confident we are that we are rooted in Christ and the more we rely on the grace given us in Baptism, the better able we will be to “walk in him” no matter where we are or what we are doing.

We Know “In Part.” Of course, this confidence doesn’t come fully and completely the moment the holy water touches our foreheads. Think of a small child. He may be confident of his parents’ love, but as he grows up, he comes to a richer understanding of what their love has meant and how strong it has been. He sees more clearly the sacrifices they have made for him, their affection for him, and their commitment to helping him grow and flourish. Even when there is disagreement and distance between them, that knowledge of their love remains somewhere deep in his heart.

Similarly, we may see only a glimmer of God’s love for us when we are baptized. Most of us were infants, after all! But that love was there, even if we didn’t understand it at the time and even if we don’t fully comprehend it now. So we can take Paul’s words to the Corinthians as our own: “At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

But Paul’s experience of “knowing partially” was not static; it was dynamic. He kept learning and understanding more clearly what God’s love looked like. His grasp of the depth of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross kept deepening. And the more he knew about Jesus, the more he loved him. It’s the same for us. It’s easy to know the basic gospel message superficially. We could probably learn it in as little as five minutes! But every saint tells us that it takes a lifetime to know the power and the love we received at Baptism—the power and love made possible by Jesus’ cross and the resurrection.

Let’s strive this Lent to deepen our understanding of the gospel and the great gift of our Baptism. Let’s say with Paul that we want “to know [Christ] and the power of his resurrection.” And to make sure that happens, let’s also say, “I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:10, 14). We can be confident that the Holy Spirit will reward our efforts with more insights, more understanding, and more love as we do.

Giving Thanks. Saved, established, rooted, built up, fed, forgiven, blessed, transformed, and secure—when I think about all that Jesus has done for us, I am amazed and overwhelmed. My gratitude grows deeper each day, and I am moved to love him in return. It’s no wonder Paul exhorted us to be “abounding in thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:7). We have so much to be grateful for!

“Lord, we are so grateful for the ‘security’ you give us when we are baptized into your cross and resurrection! So we dedicate this Lent to knowing and loving you better and to loving others as you love us!”