In what name are we baptized?

Baptism is an important theme in the bible, but there are some competing theories on how it should be done.  The first is rooted in Matthew 28:19:

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit..."

From this we see that we are to baptize "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."  But is this all that the bible has to say about it?  What about Acts 19:5

"When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."

So, then, we are suppose to be baptized "In the name of Jesus."  Which is it?  Father, Son, Holy Spirit, or Jesus?  Here is some food for thought.  Think about at Jesus' baptism.  What happened?  Well, we don't know much other than that he was baptized by John the baptist, and then the aftermath.  But, why was he baptized?  Why were the Jews baptizing?  Was it because Jesus was a sinner in need of redeption?  Absolutely not.  Then why on earth was there a baptism before Christ?  It is rooted in Jewish tradition.  Baptism was a ceremonial cleansing.  It wasn't the "grace giving" event that we see it as now.  It was merely a precursor.  This is actually mentioned in Acts.  You can't miss it if you read the two verses prior to the 5th one above.  Acts 19:2-5

"He said to them, “Did you receive the holy Spirit when you became believers?” They answered him, “We have never even heard that there is a holy Spirit.” He said, “How were you baptized?” They replied, “With the baptism of John.” Paul then said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."

Aaah.  So the "in the name of Jesus" here doesn't actually mean "in the name of".  Being baptized in the name of John, meant that you received the baptism that John gave.  And, being baptized in the name of Jesus meant that you received the baptism that Jesus gave us.  Which points back to Matthew 29:18, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  The baptism of John was not the event where you receive the Holy Spirit.  The baptism [in the name] of Jesus, on the other hand, is an event in which we are filled with the Holy Spirit.  We are given the grace of God and we become children of the Father, and thus we are given his Holy name.

Meditation

This post is primarily a reflection, not an argument.  It is more of the secret-public-journal type of post.  Just a heads-up. :)

If you have been keeping up with my posts, or know how the past year has gone for me, this won't be news, but for those who don't, it goes something like this.  In May 2013, we moved from Atwater to Fresno (about 1 hour south) to be closer to family.  We were about to have our 4th child and we wanted a better sense of community than we had in the Merced area.  However, I did not get a job closer to our new home.  Instead, I gained a 1 hour and 7 minute commute from our new house to my job.  This left me with about 2 and a half hours of "car time" each and every day.  In the beginning I listened to audiobooks, but I soon discovered Catholic radio and a show called Catholic Answers.  It is a call-in show centered on Catholic Apologetics.  Couple that with an encounter I had with a friend in which I was unable  to articulate exactly why I believed what I did, I was hooked.  I was an avid listener and I processed as much as I could over the course of a year.  Another friend of mine gave me a bunch of fantastic audio talks on various Church topics.  In the span of 1 year, I absorbed a LOT.

It was spiritually enlightening to me.  It had been a few years since I had been in school, and I really did miss the learning and thinking and processing that I had only ever gotten from college classes.  Two of my audio talks were over 20 cds long and were actual college classes where the professor (Dr. Brant Pitre) simply put a recorder on the podium.  I loved it, and I ate it up.  CD after CD.  I remembered more than seemed humanly possible.  It was exactly what I needed and wanted.

Throughout my life I have always struggled with prayer.  Not only the question of "why would we?" (which is another post) but even going through the motions.  My wife and mother-in-law seem to have almost this iMessage-like conversation with Jesus.  They send the text, he replies.  My conversation was, at best, clumsy, and at worst, non-existant.  God knew what I wanted, he knew what I needed, why on earth does he want me to tell him?  It had been a frequent topic in the confessional too boot.  One that I never seemed to get past.

At the end of this past school year (after 12 months of commuting) I finally had a break from my commute.  I was teaching summer school closer to home and I only had a 7 minute drive instead of the usual hour plus.  I was also exhausted.  In terms of units, I had taken roughly 26 units worth of classes in my commute (in terms of the carnegie hours), and I had been doing homework as well.  I decided to take the summer off.  I though it would be good for me.  I though it would be a well-deserved break.  A welcome relaxing time away from study.  I was wrong, but I didn't know it until it was over...

Let's put this all together.  As it were, I can always tell when my wife has neglected her prayers life.  She becomes more irascible, and, well, I'll leave other descriptors for the sake of my marriage (it's ok, she knows that it is true).  When I started school two weeks ago, I was fairly depressed.  I thought it was due to other factors like the end of the summer and other reasons that are part of a different post. But, when I started listening to Catholic content again, my depression lifted.  It was like a fog had cleared.  All of a sudden, I was perfectly fine.  What was that all about?!?!  Now I know...

All that time, I thought my prayer life had been bunk.  All that time, I struggled to pray the way I saw others do it.  But, that wasn't the way God connects with me.  It is through my greatest passion, learning, that God speaks to me.  My prayer type is not that of vocal prayer, but that of meditation and contemplation.  All that time last year when I was on fire for God, it wasn't just because I was learning, but that my learning was prayer.  It was the prayer that connected me to God.  And, it wasn't until I stopped doing it for 3 months, and picked it up again, that I realized it.  I am not saying that each person necessarily has a "type" and that is all they should do, but what I am saying is that my spiritual dryness that I though was a lack of conversational prayer, was really a lack of meditation.  God found a way to break through to my hardened heart; it is the reason I have a commute.  How else could a husband and a father of 4 get over 2 hours per day of study?  They can't.  This is the only way.  It is the reason He brought my family back to the "promised land" and why all of my attempts to get a job closer to home have failed.  It isn't his plan for me.  I probably could find a way to spend that much time in study, but until I do, my commute will not get shorter.  And I will thank God for not putting me to the test until I am ready.

And so, one more year, 400 more hours in the car, 400 more hours of apologetics, 400 more hours of class, 400 more hours of prayer.  Thank God for knowing me better than I do...

The Tridentine Mass

This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to attend a Tridentine Mass.  If you don't know what this is, it is the Mass, in Latin.  It is a bit more than that, really, but that isn't the point of this post.  The current Mass format was instituted shortly after the Vatican II council (and there have been a couple revisions since then).  We now have mass parts as well as the readings from the bible read in the native language of the people.  I want to briefly describe my experience as well as my thoughts on the Traditional Latin Mass (now called the "extraordinary form" of the Mass or the "Tridentine Mass")...

1. I didn't understand anything.  Well, that's not completely true.  I understood when the priest said "Kyrie..." and I did manage to pick up when the "Our Father" (Lord's Prayer) was happening.  Much of the goings on were able to be picked up by the actions of the priest.
2. Only the homily was in English.  It was a good homily too.  It was the pastor of St Joachim a few miles north of us in Madera.  I have been to that parish only one time in my life.  Interestingly enough, he brought up my one visit in the homily.  I attended the church to see a collection of relics (it was really cool).  Another event is happening there in a few weeks where they have an icon of Mary.  I think I need to attend...
3. There was quite a bit of "quite time."  There are many, many, points in the mass where the priest is saying prayers quietly to himself up at the front.  And, he is facing away from you.  It is easy to "zone out" while this is happening, intentionally or unintentionally.  As I was just trying to absorb all that was going on, I couldn't help but plan this post during the silence.  Hey, that is reflecting, isn't it?
4. There were lots of bells.  Bells are only rung twice during the Mass in English.  The bells were rung at least 15 times, maybe 20 during the Tridentine mass.  Maybe it is to wake the people up if they are sleeping? :)
5. The whole thing was obviously more reverent.  I am sure this had at least something to do with the population at the church as well.  Almost all of the women in attendance were wearing veils (as was the norm when this mass was the norm).  I am not sure how to describe the "feeling in the air" that was a much deeper respect than we typically see on Sunday morning.  Maybe it had something to do with... (on to number 6)
6. all of the kneeling.  If you think you need to be in shape for an English mass, you don't know the half of it.  There was a TON of stand-sit-kneel-stand-kneel-stand-kneel-stand-etc...  I would estimate that I was kneeling for almost a third of the mass.  It was probably less...  I think I was only sitting for the homily.  The rest was either standing or kneeling.
7. With the priest facing away, you couldn't tell what he was saying.  You were "out of the loop".
8. I wish I did know what he was saying, that way I could participate.  I have heard that many people in the past would go to mass and do things like "say the rosary" during all of the quite time.  There is plenty of time for personal prayer, or mind wandering moments.  I can see why people would do those things.  With the mass in English, we are much more likely to pay attention.
9. The chanted songs were beautiful.
10. Receiving communion at the communion rail was awesome.  Again, this goes back to the increased reverence.  Only on the tongue, not in the hand.  And, the altar server had the little "plate thing" just to catch the consecrated host if it fell.  I say again, increased reverence for what is going on and what exactly the Eucharist is.

All-in-all, I think the changes made to the current Mass format are good.  While I would be likely to learn Latin if I had to say a bunch of stuff in Latin every week, the general population at large isn't.  If the whole point is to bring souls to Christ, it is probably a good idea to talk to them in their native language.  And so now when you go to mass, you know exactly what the priest is saying, which is a good thing.  Though, if I had my say, I might bring back communion rails.  It took longer, but some things are worth the wait.  I know that I would be completely in the minority on this one.  With the added inefficiency, and a church full of a thousand people, Mass could easily take 2 hours.  Two hours spent in prayer, mind you.  That would be a good thing, right?  Well, not with my 4 kids with me.  It would probably be awful and I might just say over and over "Lord, please help me endure my blessings"...