5nd Stage - Through baptism, Jesus brings us into his consecration
Through baptism, Jesus makes us enter into his consecration
In the first part of our journey, we explained the message of the Sacred Heart Apparitions to Saint Margaret Mary. In this fifth stage, we enter a new section that explains what consecration is.
Jesus Himself is the model and foundation of all consecration.
01 The Verb
As the Word, as the eternal Son of the Father, he does not need to consecrate himself to the Father; he is everything to the Father, the Father's Equal, in the Spirit. « All that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine »(John 17:10).
02 But by virtue of his incarnation
Jesus consecrates himself with his humanity. The people of Israel are a people set apart by the Lord, consecrated to the Lord. Their vocation is to sanctify themselves unceasingly, precisely in order to manifest this consecration to God. Jesus is part of this consecration. At his baptism in the Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended upon him, consecrating him with his anointing, and the voice of the Father was heard«.« You are my beloved Son; in you, my joy is found » (Mark 1:11). This anointing of consecration takes place at the moment Jesus is about to enter the public and missionary period of his earthly life.
03 At the synagogue in Nazareth
they handed Jesus the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled it and found the passage where it is written: « The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, and to set free those who are oppressed; to proclaim the favourable year of the Lord. »Having closed the book, he said to those who were in the Synagogue and had their eyes fixed on him, « Today this scripture that you have just heard is fulfilled. »(Luke 4:17-21)
04 This consecration of Jesus to his Father
is expressed to the highest degree in the words he speaks in his great high priestly prayer: « For [my disciples], I consecrate myself, so that they too may be consecrated in truth.. »This is why I consecrate myself, so that they too may be consecrated by the truth." (John 17:19).
So Jesus dedicates himself completely to the Father so that we may in turn be consecrated in truth, through baptism.
The consecration of Baptism
01 Jesus consecrates himself first
He is the Head, so that his whole Body, which is the Church, may be consecrated to the Glory of the Father, in the power of the Spirit. Through baptism, we are « let's insert » in the very consecration of Christ. Through baptism, we become children of God, « not born of flesh and blood, nor of the will of man, but of God »(cf John 1:12-13). We have become children of the Father, brother of Jesus and temple of the Holy Spirit. This baptismal consecration is a consecration of our whole being to God. It is definitive, for eternity. It is the foundation of all other consecrations that one might wish to experience.
02 This consecration
This is signified by the anointing with the holy chrism that the priest performs on the brow of the newly baptised, after uttering these words which explain its meaning: «God himself consecrates you with the chrism of salvation, so that, incorporated into Christ, priest, king and prophet, you may always be members of his body for eternal life.» In his catechesis on baptism of 9 May 2018, Pope Francis commented thus: «Brothers and sisters, the Christian vocation is found entirely here: living united to Christ in the holy Church, sharing in the same consecration to fulfil the same mission in this world, bearing fruits that last for ever.".
Enlivened by the one Spirit, the whole people of God shares in the functions of Jesus Christ, « Priest, King and Prophet», and carries the responsibilities of mission and service that follow from this (cf. CEC, nn. 783-786). What does it mean to participate in Christ's royal and prophetic priesthood? It means making of ourselves an offering pleasing to God (cf. Rom 12:1), by bearing witness to him through a life of faith and charity (cf. Lumen gentium, n. 12), in placing oneself at the service of others, following the example of the Lord Jesus (see Matthew 20:25-28; John 13:13-17). "
In the next step, we will see what the consecration to the Sacred Heart means, in light of what we have just seen: through baptism, we are consecrated, that is to say, we enter into the consecration that Jesus made of himself to the Father.
