Signed and sealed by The Holy Spirit

The motto of St Columban was: “We belong to Christ, not ourselves” (Christi Simus Non Nostri). St Paul tells us we belong to Christ because, at our baptism, the Holy Spirit impressed God’s seal on our hearts (Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30).

I reflected on this passage from St Paul on the day it was marked as the first reading for Mass. Then, the same week that this reading occurred, I sealed a contract using my personal seal. It was with a sound engineer to install a sound system for our church. (I strongly feel that Scripture read aloud in the church should come over loud and clear, and this is particularly important for the elderly whose hearing has become impaired.) So, a contract was made between the sound engineer and me as the community representative - the document had his red seal and mine. He guaranteed the specified work; I guaranteed payment.

Paul wrote in Greek, and the word used for “seal” means that when two parties make a contract, they promise fulfilment by stamping their personal mark.

This is what our God is doing for us - shades of the Covenant Promise. We belong to Christ; we are a member of God’s family. The Holy Spirit guarantees non-ending love.

My seal was carved from a cow’s horn 60 years ago. The Hanya San (carver of seals) was an elderly craftsman who used a super-fine blade and wore magnifying headgear - the same as jewellers wear. The carving is as distinctive as a signature. My seal has my name in the Japanese syllables “KENZU” (Cairns) and is registered at the city office. I must use it to validate a contract, withdraw money from a bank, receive a registered letter and the like. It takes the place of a signature as used in the West.

Seals have been used in China and Japan for centuries. A seal is part of daily life for me, as it was for St Paul 2000 years ago. My seal is first pressed into a blood-coloured paste that in Japanese is called “Niku” (i.e. flesh). However, there are signs that the seal may vanish from Japan. The Government is vigorously promoting “digitalisation”, which will cast seals into history - except for artists, who will probably continue to put their seals onto their paintings and authorise copies to assure anyone who buys the painting that it is genuinely the artist’s work.

I find it most encouraging to know that I belong to Christ, who is ever at my side and tells me solemnly that he is my brother and friend. The Holy Spirit guarantees this mutual contract between us and the Holy Spirit. It has no conditions and lasts in this life and the next.

Columban Fr Barry Cairns lives and works in Japan.