Baptized--We Live in the Hope of Resurrection

Week 5 Lenten Devotions

Lent Day 30: Tuesday March 23

Theme for the Week: Holy Baptism--Baptized We Live

Passage for the Day: Romans 6:5-6

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.

Reflection:

Yesterday we looked at the first part of this passage and reflected on what it means to be baptized into Jesus’ death with my old sinful self drowning in the waters of baptism, allowing a new person to rise out of the water. Today I would like to spend a little time thinking about what it means to be “united with Christ in a resurrection like his.” This is the ultimate promise of baptism. In baptism, not only am I freed from sins in my life while I am here on earth. But I am also promised a new resurrected life following my death. I often read these words at Memorial Services or Funerals. In these settings the power of these words is so comforting. We know that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. We have the eye witness accounts of the many people who saw him. And we have Jesus’ promise that in baptism we are united with him and will share with him in the joys of resurrection. As a baptized person, I do not have to fear death. I can rely on Jesus’ promise, conveyed to us by St. Paul, that I will be united with him in a resurrection like his. Thanks be to God!

Prayer Themes:

Thank God for the power of resurrection. Pray that I might not fear death, but will be able to rely on Jesus’ promise of resurrection. Pray for all those who are facing death, and for those who sit and watch with them, that this promise might comfort them.