Dear friends
The 28th of September was the 32nd anniversary of my baptism. In many ways our baptism is the most momentous occasion in our lives on earth. It is when we share most profoundly in the divine life of the Trinity; we are born into eternity and become children of God. We don’t easily forget our birthday... do you know the date you were baptised? Many Christian churches baptise such as the Orthodox and the Anglican Communion among others. In many of these communities a reciprocal relationship exists whereby we mutually acknowledge that we share the one and the same baptism (i.e. with water and the Trinitarian formula). This doesn’t mean we are the same on all accounts (faith, morals etc.), the obviousness of this is self-evident. What it does mean is that the baptised are children of God and therefore brothers and sisters in Christ. This means we are family and not competitors. A similar topic is evident today’s gospel. Jesus’ response is clear. John said to Jesus, ‘Master, we saw a man who is not one of us casting out devils in your name; and because he was not one of us we tried to stop him.’ But Jesus said, ‘You must not stop him: no one who works a miracle in my name is likely to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us. (Mk 9:38-39) God bless Fr Thomas
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