Rise, and live your Baptism

Every Easter Vigil, Catholics worldwide renew their baptismal promises, plunging anew into the Paschal Mystery proclaimed by St Paul: “When we were baptised in Christ Jesus we were baptised in his death; in other words, when we were baptised we went into the tomb with him and joined him in earth, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too might live a new life.”

This rite—standing with lighted candles, renouncing Satan and his empty promises, professing faith in the Trinity—is no nostalgic ceremony. It may feel that way to some, depending on how long you’ve walked on God’s green earth.

But it is a serious challenge to every Catholic navigating today’s secular world of consumerism, polarising politics, digital addiction, and the dysfunctions of life, family, community, and society. Will you live as “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus”?

The Church insists this renewal grows faith post-Baptism, marking the source of Christian life renewed annually at Easter. As the priest introduces it, the faithful, sprinkled with baptismal water, recall their immersion into Christ’s death and Resurrection. “We must realise that our former selves have been crucified with him to destroy this sinful body and to free us from the slavery of sin,” Paul declares.

Yet modern life resurrects that old self daily. Scroll feeds breed envy and outrage; some workplaces demand ethical and moral compromises; our secular culture promotes and celebrates what God calls sin.

The renewal demands: “Do you renounce Satan? … all his works? … all his empty show?” Our “I do” echoes through church aisles—but does it truly pierce our hearts?

Death has no power

Pope Francis of happy memory urged remembering our Baptism date as a “second birthday,” teaching children the Sign of the Cross to imprint Christ’s paschal mark. This covenant calls for radical renunciation. Ditch the smartphone altar during family dinners; reject pornography’s grip; speak out for social justice without apology. In polarised societies, forgive enemies as the risen Christ commands. “Whoever has died is freed from sin,” Paul affirms; if we died with Him, we live with Him eternally.

The world sneers at such fidelity as fanaticism. “But we believe that having died with Christ we shall return to life with him: Christ, as we know, having been raised from the dead will never die again. Death has no power over him anymore.”

Confirmation’s renewal underscores Baptism’s unity, fuelling this daily dying-rising. Envision communities revived: marriages fortified by fidelity, neighbourhoods healed by charity, cultures reclaimed by truth. Will you accept the challenge? Audit your habits this week—confess mortal sins, fast from vices, serve the marginalised.

The Easter fire demands warriors, not ‘limers’. Live the “newness of life”—reject sin’s dominion, embrace God’s grace. The Church awaits your witness; the world needs your transformation.

Rise—now, forever.