(The Baptism of Christ - Vannini, 1642)
"Allow it for now . . . This is my beloved Son . . ."
The Word for Sunday: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/011214.cfm
Is 42: 1-4, 6-7
Acts 10: 34-38
Mt 3: 13-17
Did
you ever admire someone so much that you wanted to constantly imitate them? We
may see this more often in children who look up to their bigger brother or
sister. Or it could be among sports athletes whose abilities on the field or
the court are so extraordinary that younger aspiring athletes study their every
move and imitate their honed skills. In
the end, such positive role models can do much good for others.
In
this Sunday’s Feast of the Lord’s Baptism
we find someone who so admired another that he wanted to fully identify with
them. No, it isn’t John wanting to copy
Jesus but rather Jesus himself who, out of divine love, seeks to fully identify
with us! Every time we hear the story of Jesus’ baptism by John, we may ask the
question: “Why did Jesus submit to the baptism of repentance that John was
preaching in the desert?” If we say Jesus was without sin why would he seek to
be baptized, to repent and be forgiven of sin? Maybe he was more fully human
than we realize.
That
argument was a conversation by early Christians but the baptism of Jesus, found
in all four Gospels, was an event of identification. That is, as he began his public mission, Jesus in submitting to the baptism of
repentance by John, was not admitting to his own personal sin but rather
to ours. John himself knew this: “I need to be baptized by you and yet you are
coming to me.” For the Gospel writers it was essential to establish the
superiority of Jesus over John but it seems there was far more.
The
prevailing explanation of scripture scholars and theologians explains it this way.
We assume that sin is a normal part of being human. “Nobody is perfect,” we say. Yet, the
scriptures remind us (Genesis) that God created human beings not to be sinful
but to live in perfect obedience, without sin if we can imagine such a life.
Jesus, fully human except for sin, is God in the flesh come among us – the
Spirit of God descends like a dove to hover over Jesus after his baptism and we
hear “a voice from the heavens saying ‘This is my Son with whom I am well
pleased.’”
In
his baptism, Jesus embraces the human condition fully and takes upon himself our guilt and sin which then reminds us
the way to heal a relationship broken by sin between God and humanity is to be
cleansed in the waters of baptism and to seek Christ as our hope for constant
reconciliation. God has identified fully
with the human condition but reminds us that sin is not a part of it. The
sinless one identifies with the guilty. Water and Spirit not only restore us to
right relationship with God but we become ambassadors of Jesus, sends out as “missionary
disciples” to share in the mission which Jesus began.
As
Pope Francis in his recent Exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel, reminds us: “In all the baptized, from first to last, the
sanctifying power of the Spirit is at work, impelling us to evangelization . .
. In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become
missionary disciples (Mt. 28:19). All the baptized, whatever their position in
the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of
evangelization . . . The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on
the part of each of the baptized . . ." (EG:
119, 120)
Granted,
all this is much to chew on. It may not be a constant thought we hold each day
but each time we recall this event we are reminded of the mystery that God has
worked in us and the seeds of faith planted at the moment of our baptism. And
mystery it is indeed as are all the sacraments of our Church.
God’s
invisible grace poured into us at baptism did not change us physically. We still look the same, speak the same, and
have all of our various quirks. Babies continue to cry, soil their diapers, and
babble on in spite of their baptism.
But
baptism does affect an interior spiritual change; a mystery of God’s
grace. The outward signs of water, oil,
and fire symbolize what we cannot see – a spiritual cleansing an anointing (a
being set apart and marked for Christ) and the fire of the Spirit of God which
descends on us. We are changed profoundly by God’s grace and made his adopted
children through these waters. As I
recently heard someone put it well: “God signs the adoption papers.”
The
mission is for all to hear. As St. Peter
from our second reading today reminds us: “I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and
acts uprightly is acceptable to him . . .”
A
baptismal song puts it this way: “In waters we are sent to be the heart and
hands of Christ.”
Ok
all you fellow missionaries! Let’s pray
that our lives will always be an example to others. What a privilege we have
and what a responsibility.
who,
when Christ had been baptized in the River Jordan
and
as the Holy Spirit descended upon him,
solemnly
declared him your beloved Son,
grant
that your children by adoption,
reborn
of water and the Holy Spirit,
may
always be well pleasing to you.
(Collect
of Sunday Mass)
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