00:15Well, as I was saying a moment ago, through baptism, which is what in the
00:23In the Old Testament, circumcision would be the only thing that here is a true sacrament.
00:28Where the Holy Spirit descends, we truly acquire being God's family; we begin to
00:35to truly be children of God and from that moment on, like in every family, as I mentioned
00:41Just now we made a series of commitments to God and to our neighbor.
00:46That is, for all members of the family, the community of the first Christians
00:53He gradually discovered the novelty of being children of God, what it meant to have life
01:00in abundance that God gave to all his children through Jesus Christ so that they might hear this
01:09completely happy, and this was truly noticeable among the community of the unbaptized.
01:17because of the way they loved each other, how they helped each other, even how they loved those who wronged them.
01:28evils the community of those who did not yet belong to the family of God discovered in the faces of the
01:36Christians believe happiness is fundamentally what motivated pagans to seek it, because
01:45It was necessary to request admission as part of the Christian community, not simply like now.
01:50Sign here, give me this, the stipend for baptism. No sir, I had to be admitted to the
01:57community and thus become part of the great family of God, a privilege the Acts of the Apostles gives us
02:06testimony of how the community of believers was growing rapidly and how they all lived in
02:12In harmony, all filled with the love of God, the apostles, through their preaching, invited everyone to
02:21to belong to this family to all the peoples of the earth, since this was the order that Jesus
02:29For he had given them what they had received from Jesus before he ascended to heaven.
02:35darling
02:37They preached about Jesus and taught them, as he had asked, to keep everything he had taught them.
02:44And once they believed in this good news, in the good news of the gospel, and desired
02:50To belong to the family of God, they were baptized, and with baptism they received God's great promise.
02:58which is the Holy Spirit, which ultimately makes us children of God, as it says
03:04Clearly the letter to the Galatians and the one that will eventually bring us the
03:09Happiness, peace, and boundless joy
03:15Without limit, it is this same spirit that cleanses us from all our sins and makes us brothers.
03:24of all Christians because we can all say "Father" to the same God at the same time.
03:30Baptism, therefore, incorporates us into Christ, makes us part of him, and makes us fully human.
03:41That's how the first Christian community understood it, that is, the first Christian community.
03:48It was understood differently, and we can clearly see this in a very old document that
03:55It is called the letter from a grandson that reveals the lifestyle of the first Christians
04:03Let me read what was said about the Christians of that time
04:09Christians are not distinguished from other men by the place where they live or by their
04:15language
04:16Nor do they, in fact, have their own cities or use an unusual way of speaking, according to their customs.
04:22nor do they lead a different kind of life; their system of doctrine was not invented thanks to talent
04:29and to the speculation of learned men, nor do they profess, like others, a teaching based on the authority of
04:36Men, as you can see, were normal people from the street, just like us, they don't use them there, we suddenly see
04:44Those people who wear long skirts and whatever and don't live like everyone else, I mean, they go to some
04:53places
04:54But they live differently, they are different, even though they get used to living inside those things.
05:04The text says that communities in that society live in Greek and barbarian cities, according to their lot in
05:11Luckily, they follow the customs of the country's inhabitants, but pay attention to their clothing as much as to everything else.
05:19Their lifestyle, and yet they show signs of an admirable way of life, in everyone's opinion.
05:28Incredible, I mean, that's why they were so noticeable, I mean, the fact that they didn't hide in the
05:32catacombs
05:33And so that they would see us, not everyone knew them, said Father Esquerda, the one who had it.
05:40he can't
05:41You can hide it, and if you don't have it, you can't fake it; it's going to be obvious.
05:47in his own homeland
05:48But as outsiders they take part in everything as citizens, yet they endure everything as foreigners.
05:56All land is foreign to them, for of course our homeland is heaven, our earth is heaven
06:03But they are in every homeland as in a foreign land, just as everyone marries and has children.
06:12But they don't get rid of the children they conceive; that is, they don't have abortions, meaning abortion doesn't go away.
06:19to end
06:19Through laws in Rome and the ancient world, abortion ended thanks to the Christians.
06:27Christians don't have abortions; if we have abortions today it's because there are no Christians; they have the common table, but
06:36There's no bed if we all share, but not the women, right? So if you notice, it's things like that.
06:44very punctual, which in time were quite common for everyone, but Christians live in a way
06:51The text says they are completely different; they live in the flesh but not according to the flesh; they live in the earth but their
07:00Citizens are in heaven; they obey the established laws and, through their way of life, they transcend them.
07:08Laws like no parking, no turning around, no turning around here, no turning around at all
07:14However, they don't love everyone, and everyone persecutes them; they are condemned without being known, they are put to death, and
07:25with
07:25They receive life, they are poor and they enrich many; they lack everything and they abound in everything; they suffer the
07:36dishonor, and this serves them glory; they suffer detriment to their fame, and this testifies to their justice; that is to say
07:46Their lives were truly impeccable and whole; they are cursed and blessed, treated with ignominy.
07:57And in return they give honor, they do good and are punished as evildoers, to be punished
08:06They rejoice in death as if they were being given life; Saint Ignatius of Antioch already said, "Please do not use your..."
08:14Do not let any influences prevent me from reaching heaven with my Lord; the Jews fight them as strangers.
08:22And the Gentiles persecute them, yet those who hate them cannot explain why.
08:30of their enmity, as you can see, this is a small fraction of a testimony dating back to the century
08:37Second, this was what they lived through, this was what people saw in them, and this is what has
08:43stayed in this
08:44This document testifies to what life was like for Christians; we could say that this is how our life is.
08:51Today I would invite you to reflect a little on this so that you can see how important baptism is.
08:59It is important that our baptism truly leads us to holiness. How important it is that you can
09:05instruct your son, your daughter, your stepchild, or your stepdaughter so that they may live in accordance with what
09:12who lived
09:13Our parents, the first Christians, truly bore witness to the presence of God.
09:20I leave this reflection in your hearts; see you in a moment.
09:26See you in a little while
09:27and
09:37Thanks for watching the video.
