DISPATCHES FROM FR. CHARITAS
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
I observed a toddler at the baptism of his baby sister. The father held the little boy in his arms, possibly a little too close to the baptismal font. I dipped my hand into the baptismal water to bring a handful to the baby’s head. And as I spoke those sacred, ancient words of baptism, I noticed a little boy splashing the baptismal waters and doing so with verve and delight. The father offered an apology, the mother looked distressed, I chuckled and smiled.
I believe it is a good thing, maybe even a necessary sacred rite, to now and then splash with delight in the baptismal waters.
I write these words while sitting on the dock on an inlet. Here the ducks and the mergansers often dive into the deeper part of the water. Here the manatee come to lounge and graze, often splashing the water with their broad tails. Here the mullet leap into the air for just a moment before smacking back down into the water with a splash. Here I sometimes dangle my toes into those waters. And when I do so on a hot, humid day here in south Florida, the cooler water has the feel of Mercy.
I find my own soul needs to remember to splash in my baptismal waters, in these waters of Mercy. Every time I forgive others … I feel like I am splashing once more in the Lord’s Merciful Grace.
Always in Christ’s Service,
Into the Sacred Hills of Jade 