Loyalty

Now you and I became members of God’s Kingdom when we were baptised, and the first thing that is required is that we should be loyal.  That is why, at Baptism the priest makes the sign of the Cross on the forehead of the person being baptised and says,

“Do not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified”.

And everyone present says,

“Fight valiantly as a disciple of Christ
against sin, the world and the devil,
and remain faithful to Christ to the end of your life”. (2)

For in being faithful and loyal to his Church – his Kingdom – we are also being faithful and loyal to Christ our King.

It is a shameful thing, therefore, for any member of the Church – girl or boy, woman or man – to let Our Lord and his Church down.  Let us remember that the only reason we have a Christian Faith today is because of the loyalty of countless generations of Church people from the present day right back without a break to the times of the Apostles themselves.  As you know, there have been many, very many, who have suffered imprisonment and torture and death rather than be disloyal.  Their loyalty was shown in particular by being present without fail at the Eucharist, Sunday by Sunday though they risked their lives every time they went.  So one of the chief ways in which we are loyal to Our Lord and his Church today is by coming every Sunday to the Eucharist as they did.