From the earliest days of the Church, the simple ceremony of baptism has been the sign and token for good for all believers in their acceptance into God's worldwide fellowship. They know a glorious and reassuring truth: we are accepted by God. His love for us never fails. The water in baptism evaporates, but not God's love. Central in the lives of all baptised persons is that deep satisfying conclusion: "I am accepted by God, He loves me."
The world is mistaken if it refuses to appreciate the inner meaning and message of the outward and visible sign of God's presence in the sacraments. The unconvinced may ask: `How could a little water at Baptism make any difference?". Or: "How could a small portion of bread or wine at Holy Communion make any difference?" Yet the same questioners, in the course of their daily lives, insist that that a little blob of ink (in the shape of the proper signature) is on a cheque before they would pass it as reliable.
The signs of God's presence and approval are made clear to the newly baptised person. '"Now that you have entered the Christian life, I sign you with the sign of the cross, to show that you must not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified. God has adopted you by baptism into His Church. We therefore receive you into the household of faith as a member of the Body of Christ, as the child of the same heavenly Father, and as an inheritor, with us, of the Kingdom of God.".
Persons convinced of their acceptance by God in baptism, and of his life-long, loving companionship and their place in His Kingdom, have something supremely worthwhile to share with people who are lonely. Some motorists on tour once called at an isolated cottage to ask their way. The old man living their received them graciously. He and his wife had reared their family there, but his wife had died and all his children had emigrated, so he was now on his own. "You must be very lonely," they said to him. "I am alone but not lonely," he replied. "How could a man be lonely when he believes in God?" His awareness of being accepted by God in baptism, and a well-practised awareness of God's presence, prevented his solitude from turning into loneliness.
"In token that thou shalt not fear,
Christ crucified to own,
We print the cross upon thy brow,
And mark thee His alone.
"Thus outwardly and visibly,
We seal thee for His own,
And may the brow that wears His cross,
Hereafter share His crown."
W.W.