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A Gospel Reflection
Florence Gan
Why did Jesus have to go through baptism when he is the Sinless One? Jesus neither needs conversion nor John's baptism. But he wants to be with sinners to seek the way to forgiveness. He was very humble, accepting to be numbered together with the sinners. He consented to His Father's will to be baptized a sign of his acceptance and the beginning of his mission as God's Suffering Servant. During his baptism, water was sanctified by the descent of the Holy Spirit. Water washes away stains but what had been washed will not resemble what is new. Fire (Holy Spirit), on the other hand, is able to consume the stain together with the thing that is stained. This symbolized a new creation, a new beginning.
This happened on a Saturday, semestral break 2001. My family and I went to Fontana for the nth time to get a break from the busy metropolis but this would be the first time that we would be staying overnight. Since we never had a chance to see the city of Pampangga, we decided to tour around town. That night, as scheduled, we went for a joy ride around the simple and quiet town of Pampangga. Since Cousin wished to eat 'pandesal' for breakfast, we looked for a bakery and eventually found one. Mama went to buy some 'pandesal'. Just then, Little Sister and Cousin saw ice cream sold nearby, they decided to buy ice cream, so Daddy went with both of them. I was half-asleep and half-listening to all the chatters of everyone in the van. At the sound of ice cream, I woke up from my half sleeping state (who can resist the sweet temptation of ice cream?) but in the end I decided not to eat ice cream anymore. I was looking outside my window, looking at the sights and people around. Just then, a bang sounded. As any normal person would do, I looked for the source of the sound. It came from the ice cream stall. The saleslady beside Little Sister, Cousin and Daddy was shot; blood was all over the floor. The woman was rushed to the nearby hospital. My family quickly left the place and went back to the villa where we would be staying for the night. During the ride home, Little Sister was still in a state of shock; Cousin was quiet (for the first time!) with still the unpaid ice cream in hand; Daddy drove. Daddy retold what he saw: A security guard was cleaning his gun, the next thing they knew, the saleslady was shot. The bullet missed them by just a second. At first, I was thinking about witnesses being hunted down and killed (effect of watching too many horror films, I suppose). Later, after getting over my weird imaginations, I thanked the Lord very much for always guiding us despite the fact that since my first year level, I started to doubt and question Him. The next day, we visited the house of God. I cried, praying and thanking the Lord for saving us. I realized that the poem "Footprints in the Sand" is true (During your times of trail and tribulation, when you only see one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."). Since then, I was renewed; I started to trust him again. I started to become active in the religious organizations I joined. I started to live a life better than what I had lived before. Until now, this life-threatening experience my family experienced brings tears to my eyes and causes me thank the Lord endlessly. It was what made me believe that miracles do happen. That "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)."
Jesus accepted his mission, to bring light to world and become the salt of the earth. He gave up his life to bring salvation to the world. Now, it is your turn to respond to the call of God to lift up your cross and carry it. Are you still waiting for something extreme to happen before you come to your senses? God is waiting...
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