The First Letter of St Peter seems to have made use of an Easter baptismal liturgy or the Bishop's homily during such a liturgy.

The passage which we read today begins with the hymn of praise in verses 3-5. These verses give us a good summary of the doctrine of baptism and help us to reflect more deeply on the mystery of our own baptism.

"Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ": we refer everything to God the Father, but at the same time acknowledge that we know him most of all through the life and teaching of Jesus. Sending the Son to be our Redeemer was the Father's great act of love and we receive that salvific love through the new birth of baptism. At this birth we are given a great hope, whose origin is Jesus' resurrection from the dead. It is precisely the hope of an imperishable inheritance which is kept in heaven for us. Once we are baptized, the gift of hope orients our lives towards heaven.