Blog

Dear friends,

One of the most celebrated religious feasts in the Philippines is the Feast of John the Baptist or San Juan. People would come outside their houses and encourage others to splash them with water. In some places, the Fire Department would send their firetrucks and spray people with water, thereby “baptizing” them.

Can you still remember the time that you were baptized? Or for those who are not yet baptized, can you remember a time when you witnessed a baptism?

One of the things that Jesus commanded in the Great Commission is to baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In the stories found in the New Testament, the baptism happened after a certain individual believed that Jesus Christ is the Savior. And the mode of baptism is through

immersion in the water.

According to Paul in Colossians 2:12 baptism is being buried with Christ, and also being raised with Christ. This means that we put to death our own selves. We bury our sins, our selfish desires and our past life. Symbolically, the water washes our sins and then we rise up from the water as regenerated people. In rising up we share in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And this means we let Jesus take control of our lives.

We hope that “San Juan Day” is not just about splashing ourselves with water or having fun in water parks or beaches, but more importantly, we remember the real meaning of baptism — being buried and resurrected with Jesus Christ.

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Rev. Francis Neil G. Jalando-on
Director
Office of Communications
Central Philippine University