Professor Miriam Martin, pbvm led the gathering in a response to the question “What does it Mean for me to be a catholic in the world today as a baptized person called to discipleship?” with a rich and challenging session. Inviting people to consider that baptism invites us to engage deeply in the struggle to “be the kind of people for our world that Jesus was for his world” Miriam explored the type of social structure in which Jesus lived and his response to it. Building on the characteristics that defined Jesus’ own ministry and his commitment to announcing the Reign of God, Miriam highlighted Jesus’ efforts to make boundaries among people “porous” and to transform the divides of “us and them” into the communal “We.” The gathering was challenged to reflect on the need for these efforts in our own time as a call to discipleship, and what it really means to be a member of the community and at the service of the other.

A video on Christian Initiation and a prayer using the sprinkling rite helped to re- connect participants with their own baptism, the fact that it is the whole community who initiates and calls into discipleship. “Clothing oneself in the identity of Jesus” is not about being a “card carrying member” but about opening to a call that is, indeed, radical, disturbing and full of life.

Prof. Miriam Martin, p.b.v.m. leads participants in a reflection on baptism and discipleship