THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD
11 JANUARY 2015
In
the ancient world, a person's identity was determined by membership in a family. When Jesus leaves his family in Nazareth, he in
effect sacrifices his identity. However,
he does not go to the Temple in Jerusalem to establish his true identity. He goes to the wilderness, to the periphery where
God had created a Chosen People from a group of escaping slaves. In
accepting the baptism of John the Baptist, he allows his
Father to confirm his true identity and membership in God's family: "You are my beloved Son, with you I am
well pleased." With his identity as
God's beloved Son clearly established, Jesus leaves the wilderness and goes to
the places where people dwell to overturn their expectations of the identity of
the Messiah. Filled with the Spirit, he
sets out to win the ultimate battle over Satan, sin, and death.
All of us
have received our identities from the families of our origins. But, it was on the day of our baptism that we
received our true identity as members of the Body of Christ. On that day, our identity was firmly
established in Jesus Christ. Although
some of us may remember that day as children, or teens, or adults, most of us
were baptized as infants. More often
than not, Catholics do not know the date of their baptism until they are
required to obtain a recent copy of
their baptismal certificate for the Sacrament of Marriage.
After
infants are baptized, we smear Sacred Chrism on their heads. The word Chrism comes from the Greek word,
Christos, meaning the anointed one. The
Chrism speaks of our new identity as priests, prophets, and kings, the titles
identified with Christ, the anointed one of Isaiah. As we conclude the Christmas Season today, we
recall the identity we received on the day we became one with Christ in baptism. Reflecting on our identity as priests,
prophets, and kings can cause us to make some significant resolutions in this
New Year.
We all
share a common priesthood through Baptism.
Father Terry and I have been ordained into a ministerial priesthood,
charged to offer sacrifice and to pray as mediators. As priests, all baptized people are called to
offer sacrifice and pray. All baptized
people are called to make sacrifices, putting ourselves in humble service of
others. In this New Year, we might ask
ourselves whether we spend enough time in prayer, praying with and for our
parish families and our human families.
Our ultimate prayer occurs here, when we become full, active, and
conscious participants at this Eucharist.
Prophets
are people who speak for God. Throughout
the Old Testament and culminating in John the Baptist, prophets spoke the
truth, whether it was convenient or not.
All too often, authentic prophets got into trouble for speaking the
truth. How courageous are we in speaking
the truth about our faith? We do not
need to wear our faith on our sleeves.
But, we can be a bit more courageous in speaking up for the truth and
let people know through our actions that we are Catholics, and that our faith
means something to us. We can make even
greater strides when we resolve to avoid the gossip and slander that tear apart
the fabric of truth.
Kings were
in charge of managing things. In this
New Year, we can ask ourselves how well we are doing as managers. Parents in particular are called to manage
their households with a loving firmness.
In a culture where we are pulled in a thousand directions, we are called
to manage our daily schedule in a way that puts proper priorities to the time
allotted to us.
Jesus
Christ, God's faithful servant and God's Anointed One, is the perfect and
ultimate priest, prophet, and king.
During this Christmas Season, we have reflected on the Mystery of his
dwelling in our midst. This New Year
gives us a wonderful opportunity to make that Mystery more evident, by living
our Baptismal promises as priests, prophets, and kings.
No comments:
Post a Comment