Most of us who were at this church last Easter are here again this Easter.
We may have noticed some things being moved and some things were changed.
Well, things being moved and things being changed are a sign that there is life, there is growth, that it is not stagnating or lifeless.
So can we remember what were the changes or additions to this church since last Easter?
One of the first additions (actually it is a restoration) is the statue of Our Lady at the left side altar.
She was brought down from the loft, cleaned up and touched up after last Easter but she didn’t take her place yet at the side altar because we had to find back St. Joseph.
When we finally found him, and it was by God’s grace we did, we had Mother Mary and St. Joseph back to their original places at the side altars.
So almost all was restored. Except for one more thing – the baptism font.
It seems that the baptism font used to be at somewhere near the Confessional. There were no accounts of why it was removed. But it seems that it was a rather small and inconspicuous baptism font, more like just a holy water font. And there was no proper baptism font after that.
But today, may I introduce to you an item that is our latest addition to our parish.
On your right, weighing 800kg, is our parish’s new baptism font.
It came in on Thursday, just before the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, and it has been sitting there quietly, observing the Lord’s Supper, the Good Friday services and the Easter Vigil rituals.
And soon, it will fulfill its role as the Elects of our parish come forward for baptism.
But for an 800kg stone item (marble actually), it would actually take quite a lot of manpower to move it.
 |
| The baptism font is the spiritual womb of the Church |
To move a stone item twice that weight (1600kg) would be certainly more difficult.
That was roughly the weight of the stone that covered the tomb of Jesus. Rolling the stone over the tomb is difficult enough. Rolling the stone away to open the tomb would be more difficult because of the weight of the stone and also because there is a deep groove for the stone to sit on to seal the tomb. Certainly it was not an easy task to roll away the stone.
The gospel accounts about the Resurrection of Jesus, all mentioned about the stone being rolled away from the tomb of Jesus.
Whatever human possibilities there can be, e.g. the disciples rolled away the stone and took away the body of Jesus and faked His Resurrection, and whatever theories there can be to debunk the Resurrection, we can be certain of one thing.
It is by faith that we believe that the stone was rolled away by the power of the Risen Jesus.
It is by faith that the Elects will come forward to be baptized by Jesus and to share in the power of His Resurrection.
It is by faith that we will renew our baptismal promises and with the power of the Resurrected Christ we will move the stones of our lives.
It is said that faith will move mountains. But in order to move mountains it must begin with the first stone.
And to create mountains, it must also begin with the first stone.
The baptism font is the newest addition to our parish and it may not be the last.
But more importantly are the newest additions of the members of our community – those that are baptized.
And Jesus has given us the task to build His Church and our community.
And by the power of His Resurrection, we will move the stones of our hearts, the stones formed by sin.
Yes, we will move those stones and put those stones into the hands of Jesus, and He will turn those stones into living stones to build the Church of Christ.
The stone that closed the tomb could not stop the Resurrection of Christ. Sin and evil could not stop the Resurrection of Christ. What is impossible for man is not impossible for God.
May we have faith in the Resurrection of Jesus, and as we renew our baptism promises later, let us also believe in the power of the Risen Christ.
It was by the power of His Resurrection that the stone of the tomb was rolled away and the tomb turned into the womb that gave birth to new members of the His Body the Church, and that will also give new life to all of us.