The Lord appeared to Isaiah and called him to his prophetic vocation. When Isaiah "saw the Lord" (Is 6:1), he thought he would die. He feared God would take his life (see Jgs 13:22; Ex 33:20). Isaiah was mostly correct. When he encountered the Lord, God did take his life. God exchanged Isaiah's old life for a new one. Paul and Peter also encountered the Lord. When they met Jesus, they "died." Jesus took away their old, "sinful" (Lk 5:8; 1 Tm 1:15) lives and gave them new, abundant (Jn 10:10), risen lives.

Jesus calls each of us to be His disciple. When He calls us, we must die to ourselves (Lk 9:23; Jn 12:24). Jesus, "the Resurrection and the Life" (Jn 11:25), came that we might have abundant (Jn 10:10), victorious, and eternally significant lives. If we won't relinquish our old life to Jesus, we can't receive the new life He has for us, since His new life is totally incompatible with our old life (see Lk 5:36-39). This is what it means to live our Baptism, for in Baptism, we died with Christ (Rm 6:3). We literally drowned in the waters of Baptism. Our old self died. Then Jesus could give us His new, risen life. We became His disciples.

Renew your Baptism today. Die to yourself completely. Right now, surrender your life, desires, will, hopes, and plans to Jesus. Give Him your all. Then ask Jesus, "the Life" (Jn 14:6), to give you a new life. He will not leave you disappointed (Rm 5:5).

Rescript:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 3, 2006 & September 18, 2006

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.