Joke: Did you hear about the 5-years old boy who said to his mother, “Mommy, I love you, and when I grow up I’m going to get you an electric iron, an electric stove, an electric toaster, and an electric chair.” (The boy did not know that the last one was used for electrocuting criminals).

On the fortieth day, last Thursday, after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is the day that he ascended into heaven on which we celebrate each year. Because of the solemnity and pastoral need, this solemnity transferred to this weekend in some states of America. What happens on the day of the ascension of the Lord Jesus? Why do we celebrate it each year?

In today’s Gospel, Saint Mark captured three beautiful pictures portraying Jesus’ last moment with his disciples before he was taken up into heaven in front of their own eyes.

The first picture Mark painted was the scene where Jesus said to his disciples, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” After being with Jesus, now it’s time that he sent them out into the world to proclaim the Gospel to every creature. What is the Gospel if it’s not Jesus’ life, passion, death, and resurrection? Where should we proclaim the Gospel if it’s not to every creature and not only in the Church nor the Bible Study group/class? Through the virtues of our Baptism, we are all called to be priests, prophets, and kings. We all have a responsibility to go out to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone who has faith in the Lord or not, who is rich or poor, who is accepted or not, who agrees or disagrees with the teaching of the Lord Jesus, and to everyone who has ears to hear. How would we proclaim the Gospel of Jesus to all creatures if it’s not to have faith in the Lord Jesus? How can we invite someone to have faith in Jesus while we do not have faith in him ourselves? How can we save others when we cannot even save ourselves?

The second and third pictures that Saint Mark portrayed in today’s Gospel are called BBP. BBP is not Bloodborne Pathogens which are infectious microorganisms that may be present in human blood and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM), including hepatitis B and C viruses and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), but BBP, for Jesus, is Believe, Baptize, and Perform. Jesus said as Mark reported in today’s Gospel, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” They will “drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Faith alone cannot save the person, but it is to have faith and baptize that the person will be saved. If faith and baptism will save the person, what is baptism?

In today’s first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus said to his disciples while meeting with them, “Wait for ‘the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’” Therefore, the baptism that Jesus mentioned is the baptism accompanied by the Holy Spirit. Our baptism will be invalid when there is either one of the two missing, Holy Water and the formula of the Holy Trinity. This is exactly why there are some baptisms are not recognized in the Catholic Church since their baptism is not accompanied by the formula of the Holy Trinity, or they might not be baptized with water. In Pentecostal Churches, for example, baptism is considered necessary for salvation and is done by immersion only. Because a Unitarian formula is used rather than Trinitarian, Baptism is considered invalid. Philippine Independent Church of Filipino Christians, is not a recognized church of Iglesia Filipina Independiente, hence, Baptism is considered invalid. Baptism in the Catholic Church is the baptism with the Holy Water accompanied by the Trinitarian formula.

Besides belief and Baptism, we are reminded to perform our Christian life. In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminded us that those who have faith and are baptized will be able to “drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” These awesome acts that Jesus promised for those who have faith in him and baptize. We are all baptized and have faith in him, have we been able to perform these wonderful acts in our Christian life? If not, how is our faith? Has our faith only stayed on our lips and cannot move into action? Jesus reminded his disciples and all of us saying, “Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Mt 17:20). How is our faith? As a Christian, and a Catholic, have you and I have faith in the Lord Jesus to live out our Christian life? Has our faith just been professed on our lips and never been able to put into action? We can do many signs of the Cross on our forehead and our chest; we can recite many decades of the Rosary; we can spend many hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament; and we can even speak the language of Jesus or have all kinds of vision in our conscious or unconscious moments, if we cannot live out what we profess on our lips, it doesn’t matter how much faith we have and what kind of baptism we received, there is no way that we can perform any mighty deeds that Jesus promised to those who have true faith and baptize with the Holy Spirit.

BBP are Believe, Baptism, and Performing Signs, where are we in now? If we cannot perform any sign, what have we we lacked? Is it possible to perform signs as Jesus promised to those who have faith and baptize? The decision is yours.