Belonging to God

Today, I would like to continue to share with you a quote from Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues, OP, concerning the call we received in our baptism into Christ. Our baptism was not just into Christ. It was also for Christ. As Mary presented Jesus to the Lord at the Presentation, our parents, knowingly or unknowingly, presented us to the Lord at our baptism.  We belong first and foremost to the Lord and not to anyone else.  Whether we like it or not, Archbishop Brugues says, we are his. In the Archbishop’s own words of what the Lord says to us about our baptism:  “You belong to me, completely to me. You belong to me forever, and never will I turn my face away from you.  I have marked you with an indelible sign; I have forged an eternal alliance with you. You can pretend that you have heard nothing, you can turn away from me, you can behave as if this baptism never existed, for I love those who are free.  But you can also risk this adventure with me, you can respond to my love by a love for me. However, know that I have given you a name and that this name marks you for eternity” (Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues, OP, "Vocation as a Lifelong, Personal Adventure for Every Christian, Horizon, Winter 2012, p. 6-7). 

Wow! Think of the fact that we, you and I, belong to God. Don’t we, you and I, then, believe that God will take good care of us!  The person caring for us is God Himself. The Almighty, the Perfect One, the all-loving, all-caring, the totally compassionate and understanding, the infinitely merciful and forgiving One is our caregiver and protector.  Fear no evil. God is our bodyguard and the guardian of our salvation.