I can still feel the waters of baptism. They were tepid but exhilarating. They were the waters of death, signifying hades, in which I’d be plunged. They were the waters of life, out of which I’d rise a new creation. My priest dunked me in first, “In the Name of the Father,” again, “In the Name of the Son,” and again, “In the Name of the Holy Spirit.” Yet, at that third immersion, I felt pressure holding me down. He held me under the water, just for a moment, but long enough to never forget. Then he let go. When I rose, baptized, I turned to see a big grin on his face. “I wanted to be sure,” he said, “that you were baptized inside and out.” So we too must let our baptism in Christ be thorough, inside and out.
Continue reading “The Baptism of Confession”