The purpose of this site | Life In Christ

Baptized at a later age

When I was baptized in the Catholic Church in 2018, it not only shocked many

of my friends and family, but it shocked me as well. Given my (spiritual) back-

ground, this was about the last thing anyone had expected. But when God calls you,

you can't ignore it, it's that simple. He called me by holding down the repeat key of

the Our Father, and it kept playing inside my head for weeks. At the same time,

I saw images in my mind’s eye of being baptized in a Church. After a while I

decided to call a priest, because I didn't know what to make of this. That is how I met Father Carlos Fabril, my confessor and the priest who baptized me.

How Many Types of Catholics Are There?

Not all Catholics follow the same religious practices and beliefs. This is because Catholicism as a religion is not a one-size-fits-all type of faith. Rather, it is intended as a way of life.

There are all kinds of Catholics. Many cradle Catholics only go to church for a baptism, 1st communion, wedding, funeral, Christmas and/or Easter. Often they no longer believe in the dogma of the Virgin Mary or in the Presence in the holy Sacrament. They have been raised traditionally, but know little or nothing of the deeper layers that Catholicism offers. They do receive Holy Communion, but rarely, if ever, go to confession and decide for themselves which teachings they fnd useful and which they don’t. There are also Catholics who go to church every Sunday because they've been doing this all of their lives. Many Catholics of my own generation have stopped going to church all together, often during puberty. Some have turned against the church and had themselves removed from the baptismal register (which, by the way, does not cancel the baptism!). They became ardent seekers of a different form of spirituality. A spirituality that offers many freedoms in all kinds of areas. A spirituality whose teachings are often based on the ancient scriptures of Hinduism and other Eastern religions and which ultimately equates man with God. A spirituality that causes much confusion and deception. And then there are the practicing Catholics. Sometimes cradle Catholics, but often converted at a later age, from Protestantism, Judaism or Islam. These are people who care deeply about their faith and strive to live it and positively impact their families, communities and the world around them. This is the Catholic who realizes on a deep level who or what Jesus Christ is. Who understands what His Passion has meant for mankind, who understands what sacrifice He has made with this, purely and only out of love.

Called by God?

What does it mean to be called by God? The word "calling" refers to a name. No one can be called without a name. This reminds me of Isaiah 43,1: Thus speaks the God who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel. Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name: You are mine. From this I learn that if God calls you, you are His. As simple as that. The question that remains is, are only a select few called by God, or are we all called by God? Could it be that being "created in His Image and Likeness" automatically implies that we have been called by God? To answer that question, as I learned from Fr. John Ricardo, I need to look at some key questions, starting with:

Why am I here?

Why am I here? Is this a coincidence? Is it to have children, to be successful to pursue a career, to gain property and/or power, to gain status and prestige, to become famous? Or is it just to pass the time in the most entertaining way possible, until my end has come? And that reminds me of thewords of Jesus, which tell us that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself, like He has loved us.

Could that be the reason why I'm here? Could it be that God created us for this, out of His infinite love, to love each other and His creation? In short: the answer is Love. Or like Fr. Ricardo puts it: “Because the Creator of this vast, incomprehensible universe, the God who simply breathed, and created galaxies through His Word, chose to create me. I'm not here just "by chance" and neither are you. We are here because God created us, out of His Love”.

Without God, life comes down to two things: avoiding pain and seeking pleasure (consumption and entertainment). Take a look at yourself, what do you do to make sure you don't get bored?

Where am I going?

That's the next question. Where does our existence lead us towards? You, who are created in the image and likeness of God and who is the culmination of all that He has made, are meant to become holy. That is your destiny and the destiny of every human being. It is the intention that you share forever in God's own abundant life, joy and happiness. That's where you're going. (Fr John Ricardo). So once again the answer is: Love.

The third question is:

How do I get there?

We get there through love—God's love for us, manifested through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and through our loving response to God and love for one another. So the answer to all these questions is Love.

The biblical perspective

The Netherlands is perhaps the most secular country in the world. Everything was always possible here and everything was always allowed and tolerated. We were known as the most free-spirited people in the world. I am saying this in past tense, because we are no longer that free-spirited people, and the identity politics are slowly but surely finding their way in. No everything seems to be about being politically correct and all inclusive. Some conversational topics are taboo. In social situations we can talk about all kinds of religions and different forms of spirituality, except for Christianity. You can talk about Buddha, Allah and fertility goddesses, but dare to mention the name of Jesus, and an awkward silence will follow. You can present someone with a Buddha statue or some other “spiritual” statue, but don't you dare bring a crucifix.

We all look at ourselves and the world around us through a particular set of lenses. Everyone has their own glasses, and colors the world in their own way and that determines the story we believe in and that we live by. That's our perspective. Since the 2nd Vatican Council, which (coincidentally) coincided with the sexual revolution, we have lost the Biblical perspective. With the Biblical perspective I mean the norms and values that have been given to us through the Ten Commandments. They have largely fallen into disrepair. We have mostly forgotten that after the fall of the Roman Empire, Christianity laid the foundations of Western civilization and society by providing schools, universities, hospitals, art and culture.

The Good News, or just 'news'?

But what is true of most Catholics, priests and laity alike, is that the message of the Gospel has become somewhat 'ordinary', as if the Good News is just 'news'. I learned from Fr. John Riccardo that you have not really heard the Gospel until you are overwhelmed by it. And let's be honest, how many people do you know (including yourself) who get overwhelmed by the Gospel? The reason we can't hear the Good News properly is because we rarely talk about the bad news. And the bad news isn't just bad, it's horrible. In fact, it's abysmal. But we dutifully go to church on Sundays, listen to the readings and the sermon, and hope the priest won't make it too long so we can go for coffee.

Fr. John Riccardo explains the Gospel in a way I had never heard before. All the facts are as I already knew them, but how he tells it makes all the difference.

Sold into slavery

When Adam and Eve were disobedient, they literally sold themselves and all their descendants (us) into slavery. Into the bondage of death and sin. We've all lost someone and we all know how irrevocable and final death is. It doesn't matter who or what you are, how much money you have, how healthy you are, how many doctors take care of you, in the face of death you stand no chance. This is because death is not just a fact of life, but a dominion, it is a power. Death is a domain and we cannot compete with it. God created Adam and Eve for friendship and love, He created them free from sin and free from death. Paradise was the most perfect place on earth. And all of it was lost with the fall.

The second form of slavery that we have been sold into is sin. Have you ever experienced doing something that you know is not good for you, that you don't even like or want to do, but you do it anyway? The reverse also applies: you know exactly what is good for you, what you should be doing, and yet you don't do it. The Apostle Paul says it himself in Romans 7, 15-17: What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I concur that the law is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So we are powerless against sin as well, and we don't even understand why. Why am I doing what I shouldn't be doing, and why am I not doing what I should be doing?

The dominion of death and sin

So we are at the mercy of dominions and powers that we cannot compete with, simply because we are not equipped for this. We want to, but we can't, we are powerless and the flesh is weak.

Into the hands of a human trafficker

Being at the mercy of death and sin can be compared with falling into the hands of a human trafficker. You've been kidnapped, imprisoned, completely isolated from the world around you, from the people you belong to and the human trafficker does to you what he wants. He tortures and abuses you, no one comes to rescue you, and no one can hear your cries for help. Let your imagination guide you to this dark place for a little while. Feel how it feels. And this is not merely a fantasy, right now there are thousands if not millions of children, women and men who have fallen prey to this situation. Human trafficking is rampant worldwide, often in circles where we would not suspect it.

What has God done about it?

And then we wonder how it got this far, why did everything become so messy? Not just the world around us, but also our personal lives. Why are we so broken? And if anything, what has God done about it?

In the time of Noah, when things were going very badly, God decided to destroy mankind, except for those who were in the Ark. But once again humanity fell under the spell of sin and was yet again at the mercy of death's inexorability.

In His infinite love for us, God decided to send us His only begotten Son in order to conquer death. During his Passion, Jesus absorbed all of our sins. All of our sins from the past, the present and the future. He literally became the embodiment of sin because this was the only way to deliver us from it. The goal of sin is always death. Satan is not envious of God, but of us, the creature whom God loves the most. He knows better than to go to war with God, but he has gone to war with us. If he wields the weapon of death, he will always be victorious, without exception. God cannot die, but the Son of God in human form could die. Or so Satan thought. So even though he is still everywhere and continues to tempt us, in the end he has already lost and is already conquered by Jesus Christ.

So that is the Good News.

Back to the human trafficker

Go back to that dark place. You are tied up, you are hungry and thirsty, you're alone and you're in the dark. Every sound you hear means he will come back into the room to continue his game with you. But then something else happens. You hear someone enter and you are afraid to look up. Then you hear a soft and loving voice that speaks to you. Skillful hands untie your ropes and touch you softly. You open your eyes and you see the most beautiful face you've ever seen, His eyes look at you with so much love and compassion that you want this moment to last forever. He says that everything is over and that you are free and gestures you to go with Him. You are still afraid, but you do it anyway. On the other side of the door you can see the human trafficker is handcuffed and gagged on the floor. Jesus opens the door to the outside and you step into the Light. You are free.

How do you respond to this?

And how do you respond to this? Do you say, "well thank you" and go your own way while whistling a tune? I don’t think so. You know that you have been saved from certain death, from a life of fear, pain and despair. You know that you are forever indebted to Him. So the only possible response is to give your life to Him and ask what you can do to help save others. Rescued people rescue people!

This is my very limited and abridged version of Fr. John Riccardo's story, they way I understood it in my own words. For the complete and much clearer version, please go to ACTS XXIX.