THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD
10 JANUARY 2021
John
baptizes people as a sign of repentance.
Sinners emerge dripping wet from his baptism, promising to make changes
in their lives. However, John the
Baptist points to one mightier than he who will baptize not with water, but
with the Holy Spirit. Jesus comes to
John to be baptized, not because he is a sinner in need of repentance. He submits to baptism to express his
solidarity with sinful humanity. When
Jesus emerges dripping wet from the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit hovers over
him. As Isaiah had promised on the first
Sunday of Advent, the Father rends the heavens and announces the identity of
Jesus. Instead of being identified as
the son of a carpenter in Nazareth, Jesus is his beloved Son, with whom he is
well pleased.
We too have
emerged from the waters of baptism dripping wet. Although we were born into individual human
families, we have become beloved sons and daughters in the family of Jesus
Christ. The Holy Spirit burned away
original sin for those baptized as infants.
The Holy Spirit burned away all personal sins for those baptized as
adults. Today’s Scripture readings
invite us to reflect on our identity with Jesus Christ as beloved sons and
daughters on this last day of the Christmas Season. They remind us of three realities which we
might take for granted.
First, we
are reminded that God is the giver of all life.
When the prophet Isaiah invites us to come to the water, we realize that
those baptized into the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit see all life as a precious
gift of God. Dripping wet from our
baptism, we can recognize all life, in all its complexity and beauty and power
as God’s gift. Not only do we express
continual thanks for the life given to us, but we are also called to respect
all life as a gift from God to be protected and honored from the moment of
conception through natural death.
Second, we
emerge dripping wet from the waters of baptism to look for all that is
new. Jesus Christ embodies the reality
of the Kingdom of God. That is the
essence of the Mystery of the Incarnation celebrated during this Christmas
Season. Especially these days, we are
tempted to look back in anger and cynicism and point fingers at each other,
blaming others for the messes we are in.
The Incarnate Word of God is constantly showing us glimpses of that
Kingdom, of all that is new, keeping us from despair and being
discouraged. Grounded in his real
presence in the Eucharist, we will see those glimpses if we keep our eyes and ears
open.
Finally, we
emerge from the waters of baptism to realize that we are not alone. We belong to a community of brothers and
sisters. All of us have water dripping
from our brows. The first letter of
Saint John reminds us that we love each other when we love God and keep his
commandments. As we leave the Christmas
Season, we can more easily see that all of us have much more in common than
what divides us. Aware of our membership
in this community, we can have honest disagreements about theological and
political issues. But we can also treat
one another with greater respect, entering into honest dialogues instead of
putting each other down.
Saint John
reminds us that Jesus Christ came through water and blood. Water identifies his purity, while blood
speaks of his sufferings. Through the
waters of baptism, we are united with him in a bond of love. Through the Eucharist, we are nourished to
imitate that love. Dripping wet from our
baptism, the Holy Spirit continually guides and purifies us to become who we
are: the Body of Christ in this messy and
confusing world.
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