Sacraments


	Holy Baptism - Blessing of Water

	
	After the recitation of the Creed, the symbol of Christian 
	faith, the baptismal water is blessed. Prayers to sanctify 
	the water (make it holy) focus on the transformation or change 
	of the person to be baptized. Water is seen as the beginning 
	of recreation and salvation - a return to the water of Jordan 
	(the river in which Christ was baptized) - a return to life 
	as it was meant to be, in total communion with God. This means 
	that we remember that God is with us always and that we should 
	try to be with Him by praying and thinking about Him. Water 
	is symbolic because it cleanses us not only physically but 
	also spiritually. It quenches our thirst and is necessary for 
	our life. 
	
	
	The priest asks the Holy Spirit to come down and bless the 
	water so that it can give new life to the baby or person to 
	be baptized. The priest signs the water three times with the 
	sign of the cross, dipping his fingers and breathing upon it. 
	He says thrice (three times): "Let al adverse powers be 
	crushed beneath the sign of the image of thy cross!" 
	
	The final prayer of the consecration or blessing of the 
	water asks the Master of all to "show this water to be the 
	water of redemption, the water of sanctification…thou hast 
	bestowed upon us from on high a new birth through water and 
	the spirit."
	




God's strength, wisdom, power and love are being expressed 
as me.

Would the Creator, with all the love, power and wisdom of 
the universe, make us all so different and then deem only 
one right way to get to His kingdom? I would think not. As 
an expression of the awesome power of the ultimate creative 
energy, we the people have been blessed to bring forth 
various expressions. We call it race, culture, tradition 
and heritage. In essence, who we are collectively is a 
unique expression of God. No one knows better than He the 
beauty we bring to life, and He cannot be wrong. As we lift 
our minds and hearts to know, to be aware and to understand 
that we are all expressions of the Most High, we will begin 
to recognize the beauty of God at our disposal. Our world 
reflects God's strength as tradition, God's wisdom as 
culture, God's love as race and ethnicity. Who are we to 
decide which part of God is the best.


Every time I had the good fortune to research into 
someone's religion I found "God" to be in the image of 
the people to whom the religion belongs.




Sacraments

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