Anybody know who Inigo Montoya is? Ah… there are a FEW people who appreciate good, classic movies.
Inigo Montoya is a fictional character from the movie “The Princess Bride”. His father was brutally killed when he was a boy and Inigo vowed to avenge his father’s death – so spent his life becoming a master swordsman and then went out looking for the man who killed his father. He practiced his speech for how he would introduce himself when he would meet the murder. If y’all that know it – say it with me in his Spanish accent:
"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
I bring him up because of what he said at the end of the movie -AFTER he had killed his Dad’s murderer.
He said, “It’s very strange. I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it's over, I don't know what to do with the rest of my life.”
Inigo’s thirst for vengeance had become so core to his Identity that he forgot who he was. You might say, he lost himself in the process.
I think that can apply to any of us here – we tend to forget who we really are. To make my point, let’s do a little experiment: Take just 15 seconds and think to yourself how you would introduce yourself to someone you’ve not met…what would you say if you needed to introduce yourself… OK – I’m gonna guess that most of us would give our name – that’s a good start – then we’d probably either tell what we do for a living or tell about our family / how many kids we have. That’s quite normal in our culture.
The trouble is, especially for men I think, our identity becomes so wrapped up in our job that if our job is taken from us – or even if we retire – suddenly we’re saying the same thing as Inigo: It’s very strange. I have been in this business so long, now that it's over, I don't know what to do with the rest of my life.
And while that may sound like a problem – it’s actually a great opportunity! Once we take away the crutch that has held up our identity, we find ourselves falling to the next level of identity where we actually ask the question, ‘Who am I, really’? It’s a lifelong process and we all go through it until the day we die – but I propose to you that this question “who am I’ is the very core of all our questions in life.
Who we think we are colors every decision. If I see myself as an environmentalist, then my actions will follow by recycling and reusing. If I see myself as a chemist, I’d spend my time studying chemistry and running experiments. If I see myself as an atheist, well actually I don’t know what I’d spend my time doing, because it seems that nothing in life would have any meaning… so I can’t speak for them.
I say all of this because of what Paul tells us in the second reading – “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.”
Does that apply to anybody here? Anybody a child of God? Yes – all of us! When did we become a child of God? At Baptism. Baptism is when we receive the two most important parts of our Identity: First – we receive our name. The very first question in the Rite is ‘what name do you give your child’. You know, it used to be that baptism was also the naming ceremony… can you imagine – the name of the baby wouldn’t be revealed to the public until it was officially named in the baptism rite! I think some of the Eastern Churches still do this.
Then, right after we pour the water and do the actual baptism, there’s a great line in the rite which echoes our second reading, “….this child is now called a child of God for indeed she is!” Catch that? We received our name – but then we receive the name of ‘Child of God’. I remember two years ago on Easter at sunrise I did a baptism for an infant – and when I said those words “this child is now called a Child of God for indeed she is”, she raised her arms as if in victory!!! It was so cute. She was probably just filling her diaper, but it makes for a great story.
Every one of us receives our core identity at baptism. You are now called a child of God.
See – regardless of what we pursue all of our lives – what jobs we have – how many kids we have – in the end that will all just be footnotes to the real story of who we are. We are God’s children now.
What’s that mean? If you ‘ve been to any of my baptisms in the last couple years, you’ve heard me explain that Baptism is an adoption ceremony. Now think about this in human terms for a minute – imagine Joe and Sally want to adopt an infant. What choice does that child have about whether they want to join Joe and Sally’s family? Zero. Baptism is a legal action of the parents to decide that this baby will now be part of our family… we will love them all their life, they will live in our house, they will eat at our table, we will teach them, and they will have an inheritance from our family.
Notice – the child had no part in this decision – it is purely a legal action of the parents.
In baptism, some people seem to think we have to wait until the child is the ‘age of reason’ before we baptize them. Exactly when IS the age of reason? I asked a young lady that and she suggested age 12… and I wonder – what 12 year old would CHOOSE to go to church – much less make a decision that impacts their eternal life.
No baptism is not about US choosing God – it is about God choosing us! Just like Joe and Sally made the decision to adopt, in baptism GOD HIMSELF is saying – I will love you forever, You will live in my house, you will eat at my table, I will teach you, and you will have an inheritance of eternal life!
That’s why we baptize infants….this is not OUR decision, but an act of God.
When we are baptized, we join the flock of the Good Shepherd – notice not just Shepherd – but GOOD Shepherd. We trust the Good Shepherd to lead us through life – that he will lead us to green pastures – even when we’re walking through the desert or the valley of death, we can fear no evil for we TRUST that the Good Shepherd is leading us to greener pastures.
Because Jesus is GOOD, then we WANT to be in His flock. Notice when a shepherd takes his flock to the next pasture, he doesn’t DRIVE them out – he LEADS them out and they WILLINGLY follow. God always moves first. He doesn’t force His sheep to do anything. The sheep know the shepherd – they’ve grown up with him since birth and KNOW him – they TRUST him to lead them to the best pastures. You and I – most of us are cradle Catholics and we’ve grown up with Jesus – we should KNOW him – we should TRUST him. In fact, Jesus is the only one who CAN save us. We heard that in the first reading,
There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved."
Remember who you are – remember WHO’S you are – you are a child of God – you are in the flock of the Good Shepherd.
Whatever you’re going through today – and I know that everybody here has a struggle they’re dealing with – whatever it is, Call out to the Good Shepherd and TRUST Him to lead you through it. God always moves first.
