I expanded on this topic in my book, One Word – Holy. The properly baptized person is no longer the same mere human being that was once born of his parents. Baptism, as St. Paul asserts, makes us, “a New Creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) and as Christ explained to Nicodemus, Baptism births us anew, all over again, “born of water and Spirit.” (John 3:5). Therefore, in order to be born again, the old thing must die and that is exactly what St. Paul asserted, “the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Therefore, the Baptized total body and spirit is truly a new heavenly temple and building, “we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven.” (2Corinthians 5:1). What is astonishing to me is that we did not die a typical death, but an incredible special death. This special death took me about 2000 years back to abide in the Christ Holy Three-Days death with the LORD, as St Paul explained, “For if we have grown into union with Him through a death like His.” (Romans 6:5). Likewise, I, like any baptized person, rose not on my own merit nor independently, but in His Resurrection united to Him after Baptism. And I am also united to Him at the end of eternity if the LORD finds me faithful, as St. Paul continues his explanation, “we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.” (Romans 6:5). If the union with the LORD is only after the final resurrection, then we could not cry out the LORD now, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15) exactly as Christ cried to the LORD in Mark 14: 36.
The amazing part is not just that our death and resurrection in Baptism was so swift, but also that it was mostly painless and only possible with union and abiding in Christ forming “One” for, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:30). Although we may use the worldly word “death” on our final breath on earth to mean our earthly bodily separation from our spirit, we actually do not die but we, “go Home to the LORD.” (2 Corinthians 5:8). The problem is that after our Baptism we continue to struggle between living as “a new creation” or as our old self. Our sensations and the world contradict our newness and delude us into thinking that we are identical to anyone else and therefore we weaken and sin.
Sin makes us unfaithful to our real union with Christ. Sin makes us act on foreign thoughts, actions, and choices away from our LORD – actions that betray and jeopardize our union and that make us “groan and are weighed down, because we do not wish to be unclothed.” (2 Corinthians 5:4). Fortunately, Christ knows our struggle and desire not to be unclothed of Him but, “to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” (2Corinthians 5:4). When we are undressed due to unreconciled sins, we will be reduced to silence due to holding onto our pride because we are unworthy to receive the LORD in His humility in the Consecrated Bread, “My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence.” (Matthew 22:12). Christ rejects the pride in someone who confess the teaching of the LORD in saying “LORD LORD,” but who fails to humble themselves to abide and rejoice by His design expressed in His teachings, especially in designing the One Holy Church which brings Christ’s design to our midst, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them.” (Luke 6:46-47). Therefore, we seek reconciliation not from a human being, but from our One Family who are, like us, Baptized as “a new creation” – one with Christ so that we are Christ on earth.
We do not wait until we are in front of Christ in Heaven to forgive us for our sins committed after baptism. We desire His Kingdom now and, “we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away.” (2 Corinthians 5:9). Since we cannot tell whether any of our Baptized brothers and sisters is totally remaining clothed and totally united with Christ without sin, we seek the forgiveness from the one Father and His commissioned helpers, bishops and priests. The bishops and priests resemble us in Baptismal union with Christ, but additionally are clothed with the function of Christ to forgive sin. Thus, the bishops and priests who are in communion are reflecting the one Father Pope who reflects Christ’s authority in His authority by being entrusted by Christ to hold the Keys from Christ. As St Paul explained, “And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5: 18-19).
It is incredible indeed that Christ cared so much about us that when we undress ourselves of our Holy union by our sin, we are not left on our own to look for a Baptized brother in perfect union standing. Instead we seek a Baptized brother who has the ministerial delegated duties to reconcile us and redress us in union with Christ. Certainly if one has the opportunity to reconcile with those sinned against one should do so, but it is not always possible or practical as others may not live close by or may be deceased. The important point is that when I go to the Minister Catholic priest who has the consecrated hands with the authority of reconciliation from authorized eye witnesses of eye witnesses Popes I do not say, “Please, father ask Christ to forgive me” as that makes the priest a mere human being mediating to the LORD. Rather, I say, “Father, I have sinned and I ask for your forgiveness.” Then the priest does not reply, “Christ will forgive you or I will pray for Christ to forgive you” as such would suggest that a mere human being has closer power to Christ than I. Rather, the priest replies, “By the power invested in me through the Holy Church, I absolve you from your sins.” Therefore, my confession is not to a human being; otherwise, it would be a blaspheme. The priest is not giving me absolution in a human power as that is also a blaspheme. The priest is a “new creation,” baptized anew in union with Christ. In addition, the priest’s office added to his ministerial duties to be Christ, or as the Church expresses it, “In Persona Christi,” to absolve sins regardless whether he has sins or not. And when the priest commits a sin, likewise he too seeks the reconciliation from another priest and does not reconcile himself.
This incredible gift from Christ allows the Baptized to redress with Christ and “we shall not be found naked” (2 Corinthians 5:3) here on earth. Therefore, the baptized priests in their ministerial function become Christ as St. Paul described, “So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us.” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Therefore, the baptized person is also in union with Christ and the authorized priest is also in union with Christ. But the priest, whether he is in a state of sin or not, in his ministerial function, can reconcile me to God, but needs another priest to reconcile him to God. This truly makes us one union with Christ and one another’s brothers’ and sisters’ heirs and coheirs. All baptized are reborn into a “new creation” with a desire to dress and redress with Christ and with un-wanting to be found naked of Christ here and in heaven due to sin. Sin makes us naked and makes us hide from Christ and God as the human parents Adam and Eve did after they sinned, “I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid.” (Genesis 3:10). But the children of the LORD do not want to spend their entire lives on earth naked and in hiding and thus require our Father God to dress our nakedness in forgiving our sins. Adam and Eve were able to see the LORD to be redressed and forgiven by Him, “The Lord God made for the man and his wife garments of skin, with which he clothed them.” (Genesis 3: 21). But the LORD was not always seen by the earthly people and thus authority for reconciliation was given to the Father of His people who delegated it to chosen children. Christ forgave sins and delegated the power to His chosen eye witnesses who have reconciled the one family children. Therefore, everyone within the one family is born a “new creation.” Christ and union with Christ is all one Christ – a branch in the same grapevine and whether you eat grapes from one branch or another, it is all grapes of the same one grapevine. Thus there is no blaspheme but helping one another so that, “we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2Corinthians 5:21). And to become the “Righteousness of God” is to become Christ in Christ and by Christ beginning here on earth.
We become Christ, the “Righteousness of God,” totally in our thoughts, responses, choices, and wills which all requires truthful knowledge of God. Therefore, we ought to study the thoughts and desires of our Abba, Father not only independently, but as one family during our daily sacrificial offering. If one is not united with the LORD in Baptism and not reconciled with the LORD after sinning, then one would not be able to authentically call the LORD, Abba Father. A relationship of guilty and sinner to the Creator makes us slaves. Christ assured us that in Baptism we are no longer the same as when birthed from our earthly original parents, but we are re-birthed from our Heavenly Father, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” (John 3:3).
St Paul, through the revelation of Christ, insists that anyone, including those sinning after Baptism (as he was writing to the authorized ministers at the Church founded in Corinthians) who leaves this earth with certain un-repented sin will not enter into Heaven, “Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites.” (1Corinthians 6:9). Therefore, the eye witness authorized earthly Father of the one bonded family with his authorized consecrated minsters can reconcile us back to our state of union with Christ, as St Paul explained, “entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Christ further explained that those who are born again in a new creation are in union with Christ and truly have similar power of Christ, because they become Christ, stating, “Jesus said to them in reply, “Amen, I say to you, if you have faith and do not waver, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done.” (Matthew 21:21). This takes faith to understand and importantly to help our faith, we need to rely on authorized eye witnesses of eye witnesses – not strangers, but those closest to us who birthed us in Baptism and reconciled us to Christ and fed us Heavenly Food during our earthly journey. We call them parents and the closest and most trusting to their children is the father Pope and the priests in communion with Him and the Mother Catholic Church.
When we are born again in a new creation marital union with Christ, we can move a mountain, but that does not mean we need to flex our union with Christ in moving mountains. It is our Heavenly Father who made everything beautiful and with great design. If someone who lacks faith challenges the baptized to move mountains, Christ would not want all the baptized to prove that they can move mountains. Moving a mountain just for the sake of showing power is contrary to what Christ would think, desire, and chose. Moving a mountain serves to glorify oneself which is a pride and a chaos. And if one baptized person could move mountains, the challenge is still to test every baptized person to figure out who has the power to move mountains and who does not. It is not the goal of Christ united in the baptized to move the mountains of the world. On the contrary, Christ wants us to be dressed with humility as our Mother Mary who is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and soon to birth Christ, calls herself with great humility, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” (Luke 1: 46-47).
Although we become Christ, rise from dead in Baptism, yet we are Christ while in union with Christ and not independently nor on our own merit. On the other hand, Christ showed us that the born-again does become Christ in many actions of the Apostles and Paul and especially Peter the first Pope our Father. Like Christ, Peter rose a dead girl. Peter did not say rise up “in the name of Christ;” although appropriate, Peter had no need because both are equal as those united in Christ act just as Christ and in Christ, “Tabitha, rise up.” (Acts 9:40). Another time Peter healed the paralyzed using the name Christ to show that He is Christ and Christ acts in Him as one union, “Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed.” He got up at once.” (Acts 9:34). Another time Christ showed us that Peter is Christ as one union by how the people understood and experienced his “new creation” union with Christ and additionally His office authority as the visible Father of the one family, “Thus they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them...bringing the sick and those disturbed by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.” (Acts 5: 15-16). Peter’s shadow curing the sick resembles Mary’s bleeding illness stopping at once when she touched the cloak of Jesus, “Falling down before him...she had touched him and how she had been healed immediately.” (Luke 8:47).
Just about everything Peter did and experienced mimicked what Christ did, whether raising the dead, escaping prison guided by the angels (Acts 12) (as Christ escaped the crowds unharmed (Luke 4:30)), or being tested by the greedy Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) (as Christ was tested by the rich man (Luke 18:18-30)). God alone is the final judge of the heart, and astonishingly in the case of Ananias and Sapphira Peter judged what was in their hearts and what they did in secret, which is a power reserved to Christ who is God.
You see, the baptized become the branches in the one grapevine and the branch is a grapevine breathing, drinking, and feeding of the same air, drink, and food of the grapevine itself. But, the key is to remain abided branch into the one Grapevine Family; otherwise, it is a dry wooden stick unable to bear fine fruits. Thus, to turn from a wooden stick into a branch in the grapevine, the stick must die and rise as a new body part of and in union with the same nature of the grapevine itself – meaning to become Christ in union with Christ. Yes, a baptized person can be undressed and be made naked by sin, although that is not quite similar to the nakedness of the unbaptized for there is only “one Baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). To be able to do the work of Christ one must be grafted back into the one family grapevine by reconciliation, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).
It is heart-breaking when any member of the one baptized family is tricked into committing a sin and becomes undressed. It is a much greater betrayal for any member of the one baptized family who additionally has ministerial consecration authority to sin, especially if the sin is one of the deadly sins. We are all in need of prayers and forgiveness. Let’s embrace suffering on earth, for it is not purely the same as the suffering before Baptism because we are in union with Christ and we are Christ. I constantly remind myself to focus on the hidden treasure rather than the obvious repeating, “Obvious suffering is hidden treasure. Obvious rewards is hidden punishment.” Perhaps I desire this material thing and that material thing and desire them today and now. Perhaps I desire less pain and more comfort today and now. But regardless of what I lack or have, since I am one union in Christ, a new creation Christ, then I have what Christ promised me “my joy may be in you” (John 15:11), and a heavenly Peace thus, “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27). It is about realizing the “new creation” we have become and having faith in Christ and His majestic Design.
Christ, the ultimate humility, humbles Himself to the original function of substances, yet elevates those original functions to Christ. The original function of the Consecrated Bread and Wine is regular food and drink, but when properly consecrated, Christ becomes the Bread and Wine in appearance and function; the bread and wine are elevated from ordinary food and drink to the Food and Drink of life of Christ Himself. Historically, we find that some consecrated Bread and Wine actually turned also in appearance to Christ. This grace resembles the Baptism where the baptized retain the original appearance and function of the child or adult or male or female and their roles, education, strengths, and weaknesses, yet are elevated to Christ in all choices, suffering, illnesses, achievements, and responses. Likewise the baptized married spouses appear as regular secular married spouses, but add to their function the reflection of the Holy Trinity as separate persons, yet forming one flesh and raising children not for the sake of forming a family, but for the sake of raising up children faithful to the LORD into the one Holy Family of God.
Likewise, the baptized priest (who is already one in union with Christ) adds to his laity Christ function the elevated authority of Christ. Likewise in addition to the bishop’s priestly Christ function, the bishop has the authority to shepherd the people he is in charge of as Christ. Likewise, the Pope is a priest in union with Christ with the added function of the authority of fathering the universal Church as Christ. Astonishingly and so exciting, whether a consecrated Bread and Wine, a baptized single man or woman, a baptized married person, a priest, bishop, or the Pope, a separated and chaste man and woman are all the exact same as Christ, but with various different functional authorities, strengths, weaknesses, education, and knowledge. You may wonder how could I believe in such a Design that appears so contradictory. I believe in such a majestic Design because the Scripture teaches us the incredible humility of Christ. This is an incredible humility that Christ would humble Himself to become one union with the baptized and all his/or her weaknesses and suffering whether tall or short, attractive or not, illiterate or educated, married or single, and male or female.
It is an incredible privilege to be born as one in union with Christ and that requires us to strive to become saints. Christ demands of us to, “Be holy” (Leviticus 20:26) and “be perfect” (Matthew 5:48). This is possible with our born anew inherited ability as we no longer rely on our human strength, but we rely on the Holiness and perfection of Christ within us. Thus the demand is achievable. When I sin, I realize it is my failing – I act, respond and chose by my total body, mind, and Spirit. This means that I sin when I act based on physical needs and desires without balancing them with my mental and spiritual being. For example, acting based on only on physical needs is like smelling food or drink and rushing to eat and drink without thinking whether the food and drink is drugged, alcoholic, or belongs to someone else or if obtaining it breaks the Creator’s Commandment. Likewise, I sin when I see an attractive woman whom I desire sexually and act on it without thinking what her choice would be, whether she is a spouse of another man, or whether the relationship is morally acceptable with the LORD’s Design.
Likewise, I sin when I act mentally without any physical or spiritual balance. For example, I can think about worshiping the LORD or being part of the one Family Church that Christ established or I can think about helping the poor but without investing any physical energy to go to Church, to physically worship the LORD, to invest the effort to join the One Family Church and to seek helping the poor and needy as I can. And likewise, I could sin by acting based on spirituality alone without mental and physical balance. I could chant with a group that states they are worshiping without evaluating whether they are worshiping the LORD or a demonic force. I could also join a worshiping group because I long to worship while engaging in spiritual practices that place me in a dangerous vulnerability to demonic possessions. Even when I make decisions based on my physical needs and thinking, I still sin if I live for my personal gain even when I do not harm others, but neglect to live for the LORD and my eternity.
Thus, to believe in the Creator’s Design requires us to imitate Christ in His humility and to rejoice in His rejoicing. It is incredible that Christ in His sacrificial humility as Consecrated Bread and Wine and as Baby in a manger, needs to entrust Himself to authorized human ministers and earthly parents to swaddle, feed, circumcise, and care for His humble persona. In like-manner and imitation to Christ, we must humble ourselves to His entrusted authorized Key holder the Pope our Father and his authorized ministers and our Mother of the one Holy Catholic Church to educate us, baptize us, confirm the Holy Spirit upon us by anointing us with Chrism, by nourishing, reconciling, caring and rejoicing for our “new creation” – humble Christ. Indeed, humility is a requirement to please Christ, to rejoice in the Holy Catholic Church, to understand the Holy Scripture with depth, to believe in Christ’s holy design of the one family Church and to encourage the baptized to remain dressed with proper wedding garments.
Yes, we become Christ in Baptism and function in as much as we are graced and authorized to function as Christ. We are Christ in Christ, because He loved us sacrificially and humbled Himself to become consecrated Bread and Wine and to become not just the Christ human persona conceived in Bethlehem, but in every baptized and properly dressed human being as the ultimate form of humility and sacrificial love as stated, “Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance.” (Philippians 2:7). The receiver plays a role in how much of Christ’s function they allow in them by how much they love sacrificially and humbly. Christ does not find any bread and wine to convert them to Christ; rather it is our love of Christ to be fed by Him and on Him that leads us to intercede on behalf of the wheat and grape to make them bread and wine. And it is the sacrificial love of the authorized priest that leads him to dedicate his life to feed us Christ who humbled Himself to grace us the consecrated Eucharist, “the Food that endures for Eternal Life.” (John 6:27). Likewise, the baptized (or the parents on his behalf) shows sacrificial love to gift the baptized to Christ in sacrificial love that Christ gifts us back as a much greater gift of forming the “new creation” – baptized Christ. Likewise, the priest, bishops, and the Pope are each a sacrificial self-love given to Christ and His mission, because Christ graced them additional authorized ministerial functions. The exciting news is that we are the aroma of Christ to everyone we meet as St. Paul reminds us, “For we are the aroma of Christ for God.” (2 Corinthians 2:15). And the aroma of Christ is Christ, the Righteousness of God. Thus, the incredibly humble Christ is in the virgin baptized man, virgin baptized woman, properly married spouses, separated chaste man and woman, and Christ in the Holy Consecrated Bread and Wine. The reflections on these five various hidden forms and functions of Christ on earth inspired me to write the Mystery of the Body Rosary prayer reflections that I found helpful in continuing to draw me to Christ in His various aromas (The Mystery of the Body Rosary has not been submitted for approval from the Holy Catholic Church.).
The secular world encourages us to know ourselves. But to the baptized, I find the goal is to know Christ and that leads us to know ourselves. The Christ in the baptized is not a limited Christ, but actually a magnificently humble Christ as much as we allow Him to be and function as the baptizer states, “He must increase; I must decrease.” (John 3:30). The humble baptized who live a saintly life imitating Christ’s thoughts and actions, expands Christ in him/or her to a much more pleasing union. Ultimately, it is love that allows the substance to become Christ, the very Aroma of Christ to God, and that love is a sacrificial humble spousal love forming “one flesh.”
If anyone is fortunate to live in a reasonable travel distance, one ought to try to structure one’s daily routine to attend a daily family feast celebration, the Holy Mass. Daily Mass contains daily Biblical reading from Old Testament, New Testament, corresponding Psalms, Hymns, the Prayer Christ taught, the last supper Treasure consecration prayer, daily communion prayer, and the Homily teaching and guidance from the authorized eye witnesses of eye witness in a heavenly Feast feasting on heavenly Food and Drink. This commitment to daily Mass celebration is so important in our spiritual growth to become the “Righteousness of God.” Moreover, rather than limiting our preparation to Sundays, attending the daily Mass becomes a daily preparation of a soldier. Most likely, the sharpness, stamina, and readiness of a soldier exercising daily is superior to that of soldiers prepared only on Sundays. Limiting our preparation to one hour on Sundays almost makes us spectators rather than daily practicing soldiers and heroes. Christ desires daily disciples to be dressed in Him and to “keep watch” (Matthew 24:42) with all senses alert and ready – wise with your lamp full of oil and lit. Let’s avoid sin so that we avoid being undressed naked even for a moment. Then as soon as we find ourselves tricked and we sin, we should rush to be redressed by our Father here on earth in His authorized eye witness Christ Persona.
Oh LORD! How humble You are!
You did not remain afar from me!
You came down so small to live in me!
Oh LORD! You became one flesh with me!
You taught me humility, a heavenly treasure for me!
Oh LORD, how humble You are!