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The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit

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The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
By Craig Condon | Submitted On January 10, 2015

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Expert Author Craig Condon
If the reading we heard from Mark 's Gospel a few minutes ago sounds familiar, it 's because we heard part of the same reading a few weeks ago on the Second Sunday of Advent. On that Sunday, we heard John the Baptist talk about the coming of Jesus and the baptism that he would provide-the baptism of the Holy …show more content…

Not only was this gap first bridged at Jesus ' baptism when the Holy Spirit descended from heaven like a dove, it was also bridged at his death when the veil in the temple was torn in two. The Temple was divided into several sections, including the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was separated from the rest of the temple by a curtain. The only person who could enter this particular part of the temple was the High Priest, and even then he could only enter on the Day of Atonement. No one else could enter, so a rope was tied to the high priest 's waist so that if anything happened to him he could be removed without anyone else having to enter. A bell was attached to the high priest so that people on the outside could hear him move. If the bell stopped ringing for any length of time, the people would know that something happened to the high priest and that they needed to pull him out of there immediately.

God claims us through baptism. In the waters of our baptism, God speaks our name, unites us to Christ and grants us the promise of new life. He says that he loves us, he claims us and he is proud pf us. Nothing else is needed. No one can take our new identity in Christ away from us. No matter what other names we are called others or even by ourselves, we are now beloved children of God. In the Baptism Service in the Anglican Church of Canada 's Book of Alternative Services, there is a line that is read when a person is baptized-"I sign you with the

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