Today’s second reading from the letter of St Paul to the Galatians contains an extraordinary statement about all of us.  Paul exclaims that through baptism there are no more distinctions among us. Through baptism we become one because of our faith in Jesus Christ.  There is no more room for prejudices or preconceived ideas because people come from a particular culture or background. All differences disappear and we all become one in Jesus Christ.

The extraordinary nature of this statement becomes clearer when we try to understand the culture in which Paul lived.  Paul is saying that there is no distinction between man or woman any more.  The status of women in those days was much more disregarded than it is today.  Women had no right.  They could not speak in public.  They were not to be seen and they were always in the background.  This is the reason why the scripture speaks so often about how important it is to care for widows.  Widows were defenseless.  They did not have any man to protect them or to speak on their behalf.  Widows were isolated with the great danger of being exploited in so many different ways.  The whole of society revolved around the male species.  Through baptism Paul is saying that this is no longer valid.    Every human being male or female is created by God.  They have the same dignity and both demand the same respect and care.

In the same manner, Paul says that because of baptism there is no more distinction between a Jew and a Greek.  This is a very revolutionary idea.  The Jewish people believed that they were special because God had made a particular covenant with them.  They considered themselves to be God’s favorites claiming a special relationship with him.  What Paul is now saying is that to be close to God has nothing to do with nationality.  It is a question of the heart.  Closeness to God depends on how one lives his or her life based the principles and values as manifested by God.  This is what led to the first great controversy in the early church.  Everything was working fine as long as the converts to Christianity were Jews.  However, the problem started when non Jews started to believe in Jesus Christ.  As first these people were asked to be circumcised as a sign that they belong to the family of Jesus.  Paul rebelled against this attitude.  He held very firmly that baptism was the sign of a person being incorporated in a  special relationship with God and not circumcision.  Why do non-Jews have to adopt the culture and the customs of the Jews to be admitted in the Church.  There was no need for this.  To Jesus Jews and non- Jews are equal and both accepted even though they are so different from one another.

Finally, Paul says that because of baptism there is no difference between a slave and  a free man.  Once again this was totally against the way things were done.  The whole economy of the countries depended on the cheap labor provided by slaves.  There was a very marked distinction between those who had the freedom to aspire for positions of importance and those others who were perennially condemned to do the meanest job so that the others could hold on to their exalted positions.  Generally speaking slaves were not treated with dignity.  Rather very often they could easily be dispensed with.  Paul is saying that this has nothing to do with Christianity.  It is true that we all have different responsibilities in life.  The purpose of work is for the upbuilding of the whole community.  Therefore every form of work has its importance and this means that all need to be treated with respect and dignity.
These are indeed very revolutionary ideas whose effects are still with us today.  In the State of Orissa, India, Christians are still being persecuted because the church is giving the due respect to the untouchables.  The caste system in India is still very strong today.  Today more than 160 million people in India are considered “untouchable” people tainted by their birth into a caste system that deems them impure and less than human.  These people suffer a myriad of human rights abuse.  They live in constant fear of being publicly humiliated, paraded naked beaten and raped with impunity by upper caste Hindus seeking to keep them in their place. Merely walking through an upper-caste neighborhood is a life threatening offence.

The Catholic Church is doing much needed work to make these people understand that as created by God, they are important and have a dignity which needs to be respected.  This is part and parcel of our belief and many of these people are embracing Christianity as they are given the opportunity to understand who they really are as created by God.  One of the consequences of this is that the church is often submitted to violence and indiscriminate injustices.  Yet the Catholic community is becoming bigger as they hold fast to their belief.

So we come to us.  What does it mean for us today to be baptize?.  Baptism is not simply a nice ceremony.  Baptism is the time when Jesus Christ starts to live in an intimate and personal relationship with us.  This demands a response.  If I seek baptism myself or if parents seek baptism for their children this means that there is also the responsibility to live according to the values of Jesus Christ.  This is still very revolutionary today because there is a great temptation to base our way of living on what the majority of people do or think.  As baptised people our responsibility is to live not according to popular opinions but according to the teachings of Jesus Christ.  To stand for the values and the attitudes of Jesus.  To always work for what is right and just.  To always seek the truth, to respond with love when we are faced with hatred, to respond with forgiveness when we are hurt, to persevere in doing good in the midst of so many contradictions, to be prepared to serve others no matter what the consequences would be, to give welcome to the stranger, the asylum seeker, and to those who culturally and socially are so different from us.  To always respond with charity and seek to change situations through dialogue and service rather than through judgments and condemnation.

We cannot do this on our own.  We need each other.  This is also why we need to gather every week around the altar to be nourished by the body and blood of Jesus.  Very soon we are going to recite the creed, our profession of faith.  Let us do so mindful that these are not mere words or nice sentences but a way of living which demands a change of our minds, hearts and actions to be in conformity with the heart, the mind and the actions of Jesus.