THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD
12 JANUARY 2025
Our
popular culture speaks of Christmas in the past tense. We ask one another, “How was your
Christmas? Where did you spend
Christmas? Did your annoying uncle come to
cause trouble with his heavy drinking and political arguments?” The stores no longer carry anything
associated with Christmas, because they are obsessed with telling us to buy all
kinds of stuff for Valentine’s Day.
But for us,
who are disciples of Jesus Christ and members of the Catholic Church, Christmas
is not over. Beginning on the evening of
December 24, we reflected on the events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ
for eight days, an Octave. Last Sunday,
we meditated on the manifestation (Epiphany) of Jesus Christ to the entire
world through Saint Matthew’s account of the journey of the magi. On this last day of the Christmas Season, we
reflect on Saint Luke’s account of the manifestation of Jesus Christ at his
baptism in the waters of the River Jordan.
As an adult thirty years after his birth, Jesus knows who he is. Angels had announced his identity when they
proclaimed his birth to shepherds in the hills around Bethlehem. The magi identified him by the gifts they
brought: gold for a king, frankincense
for God, and myrrh to anoint his body after he had died on the cross for our
salvation.
That is why
the Baptism of Jesus is so important. In
being baptized in the River Jordan, the true nature of Jesus is manifested.
John baptizes people as an invitation to repent of their sins. Even though John the Baptist is a very
popular and engaging character, he points away from himself and invites people
to trust his cousin. He identifies Jesus
as the Christ, the Messiah for whom people had been waiting for centuries. Saint Luke does not describe the actual event
of the baptism of Jesus. Instead, he
tells us that after the baptism, Jesus is praying. Heaven is opened, and the Holy Spirit
descends on him in bodily form like a dove.
The voice comes from heaven and announces that Jesus is his beloved Son,
with whom he is well pleased.
With this
manifestation, Jesus begins his public ministry. As the beloved Son of God, he will proclaim
that the kingdom of God is at hand. He
will teach how to become be part of this kingdom. He will work miracles as signs pointing to
the presence of this kingdom. In fact,
we will hear from the Gospel of Saint John next Sunday that Jesus will manifest
himself in one of his most important miracles.
He will change water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana.
When we
were baptized, you and I became brothers and sisters as members of the Body of
Christ. When he is manifested in the
waters of the River Jordan, Jesus is clearly not alone. The Holy Spirit has descended on him, and the
Father refers to him as his beloved Son in whom he is well pleased. As he continues his public ministry, the
Father and the Holy Spirit will be with him, even as he hangs in agony on the
cross. In being immersed in the waters
of the River Jordan, he is demonstrating that unity of the Trinity. He becomes aware that he is not alone.
You and I
are not alone either. We walk our
pilgrimage of life together as brothers and sisters. When we spend time in prayer, we become more
aware that we have been immersed in the life of the Trinity when we were
baptized. When we are fed by the Body
and Blood of Jesus Christ at this Altar, we express our faith that the Lord can
transform the water of our ordinary lives into the wine of God’s love. No matter what happens in this New Year, we
can have the same confidence as Saint Peter, who speaks in the Acts of the
Apostles after baptizing Cornelius and his family. God is with us at every step of our lives and
will not abandon us.
No comments:
Post a Comment