PCS 103 Assignment 1 Matthew 28:16-20

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PCS 103 Assignment 1 (Matt 28:16-20)

I was part of two liturgies this weekend: one with our Heart of Compassion Faith Community here in Windsor and the other with Mary Eileen's St. Bridget's community, in Hudson, OH as part of our six year ordination reunion (to the deaconate for me). As we explored Matthew's passage about Jesus' ascension, the pulse in both zoom prayer spaces was that of a covid cry: anguish about death, social isolation and suffering; fear about returning to "normal" (many have deepened into rest and their relationship with our Holy One); and joy about connecting electronically with persons from all over the world.

I was taken into the question, What does baptizing mean in Covid-19 times? In sacramental lingo, in baptism we are claimed for Christ with the three-fold formula:  in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, in Matthew's Gospel, appeals to us to baptize and bring others  to Him.  In our pluralistic, global family another set of questions might be important, "Who do we claim as Christ among us? How are we being His presence to them?"


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