John 11:1-45

Baptism unites us to the saving death of Christ and enables us to share his life: ‘when we were baptised, we went into the tomb with him and joined him in death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father's glory, we too might live a new life' (Rom 6:3-4). When baptism is celebrated during the Easter Vigil, this connection between the paschal mystery and the new life given in baptism is readily made.

Triple immersion in the waters of baptism refers not just to the Father, Son, and Spirit, but symbolises participation in the three days that Jesus spent in the tomb before the Father raised him to life.

St Paul reminds us that new life with the risen Christ has already begun in those who have been baptised. Despite our frailty and sinfulness, despite our weakness and brokenness, ‘nothing can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord' (Rom 8:39). The Church is the community of the baptised, a community of redeemed saints and sinners that witnesses to Christ's life now as it awaits the fullness of risen life at the end of time