A recent Catholic news story has crossed over into the mainstream news where a priest in Arizona admitted to performing the Sacrament of Baptism incorrectly for the last 20 years or so. Instead of saying, "I baptize you," he said "we baptize you." In doing this, it takes the authority of Jesus Christ, who alone grants the sacrament, and replaces it with the community. The diocese and canon lawyers are seeking a remedy for this situation. Gus posted the story to his Facebook page and many of the comments were negative or dismissive, saying things like, "why is this a big deal?" The Catholic Church is all about rules." Gus explains why it's a big deal and invites listeners to call in and talk about how they feel about it.
Later, Gus welcomes Russell Yount to the Conversion Corner. Russell grew up in Kentucky, surrounded by evangelical Christianity but with a family who never really practiced. He was always curious about God and religion and, after college, joined a Lutheran organization. This led him on his path towards Catholicism. He shares his story with Gus and the listeners.
And it's Monday so that means Gus does a round of Tell Me Something Good with listeners.
This topic so much touched me – I had wished I could get through the phone lines to talk about my story – this summer, my son, Reece (who is 21) was home from college (WVU – an art major who after college, desires to enter seminary) had a friend at school, who just recently found out that he was baptized under the “we” phrase … this lead my son to search our house for video recordings of his and his sister’s baptism. He knew the kind of person I was , that I would certainly have had someone video these sacred events. He easily found his and was so relieved to find he was baptized with the priest saying “I” and with my help , we found his sister’s video and we were both relieved to find she was also baptized with the priest saying “I”. This Seize the Day really came close to my heart. Thank you.