Rome (AsiaNews) - Saying no to "a culture that does not look for the good, whose morality is a mask to confound, create confusion and destroy", "where lies are dressed up as truth and information ".

To a culture "which seeks only material well-being and rejects God," Benedict XVI says no, in the name of the renunciation of sin to live in the freedom of the sons of God, which is at the heart of baptism. The Pope spoke last night about the first sacrament of life of the faithful in the basilica of St. John Lateran, at the opening of a Rome Diocese conference on: "Go and make disciples, baptizing and teaching. Rediscover the beauty of Baptism ".

Being baptized, said Benedict XVI, emerges us in the divinity of the Trinity; we become incorporated in the name of God, who becomes our name and we his witnesses. "Baptism, then, means first of all being united to God in a new unique existence. It follows that God is no longer far away, but it is a living presence that we must take into account that we are made Christians by God, we achieved a new dimension and, finally, that being immersed in God through baptism we have a fellowship with our brethren. " "To be baptized is never a solitary act, for 'me', but it is necessarily always being united with everyone else, being in unity and solidarity with the whole Body of Christ."

Analyzing the baptismal rite, the pope highlighted the significance of the three renunciations: "renouncing the seductions of evil today also means freeing ourselves from a way of life, in which not the truth, but appearance, the effect, the feeling under the guise of truth, in reality are destroying mankind".

Giving up sin to live in freedom as the children of God is to admit that sin is not indifferent to God, it is not a ridiculous word, and freedom is not, as many now believe, emancipation from faith and therefore, ultimately , emancipation from God. God loves us, has become vulnerable to the death for us and hurting him with sin is living against ourselves and against our freedom. And finally renouncing Satan, this means saying "yes" to God and a "no" to the power of the evil, that wants to be a God in this world. The confession of faith also accompanies the baptismal rite.

It is not simply a formula: "it touches our life: it is a dialogue, an action of God with us, a journey. Only if we accept Christ as the way, do we begin to really be on the path to Christ and understand the truth of Christ. "