The Baptism of the Lord

 

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(painting by: Dave Zelenka 2005)

"You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased"

Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011225.cfm

Almighty ever-living God,

who, when Christ has been baptized the 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.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever. 

(Collect of Mass)

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord this Sunday is essentially the second of three epiphanies of Jesus. While we are most accustomed to THE Epiphany, the famed visit of the Magi to the child Jesus and his mother, if we look at the Gospels, we would see essentially three instances in which Jesus revealed to the world a window, a new light, of who he is: God become human among us. The Magi symbolize the wider world, the gentiles, and how the world came to recognize that God had become human among us to rescue us from destruction.

 The second “epiphany” is that of our feast today, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan by John the Baptist.  As our Lord is baptized, he comes out of the water and the Holy Spirit appears in “bodily form,” and a voice is heard: “This is my Son . . .”  The Son appears on earth to walk among us and share the fullness of the broken human condition. He did not put on a costume and pretend to be human, nor was he half man but fully God but completely human and completely divine. 

 The third epiphany? Next Sunday we hear of the wedding at Cana where Jesus follows the lead of his mother and breaks upon the scene by turning water into wine.  In that way, the first of his public miracles, he reveals to his disciples that he is not just an ordinary rabbi.  God is at work through him in an unprecedented and unique way.

But if you’ve ever pondered the question as to why Jesus was baptized you would be exactly in sync with the early Church which asked that same question. As the argument went: John preached a baptism of repentance from sin.  If Jesus submitted to John’s baptism, he must have been with sin. Yet, if our claim that Jesus is divine is true, how could he be with sin? And, if he is without sin, why would he be baptized?  So goes the issue round and round.

One historical comparison may help.  During the Second World War, London, England became a target by the German air force.  In 1940 that famed city was bombed and destroyed most of the infrastructure of the city.  But, what about the Royal family, the King and Queen in particular.  King George and Queen Elizabeth, the parents of the late Queen Elizabeth II, were inside Buckingham palace on the day of the bombing on Friday 13th, 1940. 

What did they do?  Flee to the countryside to be safe and preserve the monarchy? Leave the nation to fend for itself as they flew off to a safer country? More than one advisor strongly urged them to leave for the sake of saving their lives and the monarchy.

Despite their privilege and position, they remained in the city.  They shared the experience of that tragedy and literally went to the people to encourage them and build up their lives. To give them confidence and hope.  They entered the broken experience of the people and in the end built up the city and nation and won great admiration from the population for doing so.  

That is something of the same as to why Jesus was baptized.  Though there was no need for him to be baptized, in doing so he entered our sinful broken lives and invites us to share in his.  To remain with us in solidarity, to face the enemy of evil and division, and to heal and bring hope to humanity by calling us to the cleansing waters of baptism and inviting us to now share in his mission. 

The Gospel passage from Luke this Sunday brings us to see the result of what Jesus has done. Luke writes: “After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying . . .”

One could imagine that Jesus had simply slipped into the crowd or patiently stood in line with the others remaining unremarkable, was baptized by John, and followed out of the water blending into the masses while quietly walking away in prayer. 

Yet, we know there must be something far more significant here. As we come to the end of this year’s Christmas celebrations our attention now turns to another scene of revealing Christ to the world; this second epiphany. Today’s Baptism of the Lord reminds us of the process through which the curtains were drawn open for the world to receive the long-awaited Savior. As John says in the Gospel (Lk 3: 15ff) today: “The people were filled with anticipation . . . He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Likewise, our first reading from Isaiah 40 says: “Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together . . .” The curtains are open and the spotlight shifts from John to Jesus as John fades from the scene.  Jesus is the One.

It reveals the truth of who Jesus is and uncovers part of that mystery. He is indeed God from God and light from light as we state in our Creed, yet he is also fully human. His sinless condition did not make baptism necessary for him but for our sake he did so. In the act of submission to John’s baptism Jesus reveals to us not only who he is but in the same way who we are and what we are called to become. In being baptized our Lord took upon him our sinful nature and joined himself to us in the full experience of human life.  This great act of mercy for humanity is profound as it brings us the true hope of eternal life. Baptism now remains a sign of sin washed away (the guilt of original sin) instituted in the waters of the Jordan by Jesus himself.

The other may be a more complex question - that of sin itself.  Do we sin because we are human? Does the baptism of Jesus become necessary because we are inherently a sin-prone people? We casually say that “no one is perfect” so is that just the way things are for us?  Do we uncomfortably put up with greed, lust, selfishness, violence, deception, pride, gluttony, killing and rampant evil because we are “only human?”

Jesus’ baptism shows us that to be fully human we are called to a higher moral standard.  We don’t sin because we are “just human.”  We sin because we are weak.  That guilt of original sin we speak of, first committed when humanity turned away from God through free choice, is washed away in baptism so the grace of the same Spirit which descended on Jesus at the Jordan may come on us; It is named “sanctifying grace. While baptism isn’t some sort of magic that will transform everything instantly it opens the door to faith and solidarity with Christ as Lord and Savior.

Jesus showed us the better side of human nature and what direction our lives must turn to; what God’s intent is for us. That sin and selfishness, greed and pride, violence and hatred should not rule our world.  Jesus’ own entrance into our history makes all that possible by the Gospel he revealed to us.  His entrance on our stage is a new light, the brightest light to follow and emulate.  Compassion, mercy, love, healing are virtues of strength not weakness. That God wishes solidarity with all of humanity and offers to send his Holy Spirit to all who seek it and live by it. Our mission then is that of Christ himself and the Spirit received in baptism compels us outward to be missionaries of the Gospel. In this special Jubilee Year of 2025, we are “pilgrims of hope.”

In the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, we are intimately joined to Christ as our Word and our food.  Likewise, we stand in solidarity with each other in forgiveness, love, support and our spiritual life.  Here we are strengthened to go out and be truly human, holy and more authentically the presence of Jesus in the world of today. As we are baptized into Christ, we preach his mission not by words alone but more convincingly by good example. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Epiphany of the Lord

 Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010525.cfm

Second Vatican Council in its Document on the Churches relationship with non-Christian religions, that the Old Testament was revealed to A recent homily source from the Jesuits of St Louis made a wonderful observation about today’s beautiful Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. They noted that it is safe to say that all those who attend our Sunday Masses in our parish Churches are overwhelmingly Gentiles who are expressing their faith in Jesus the Christ, the Messiah of Israel and our own Lord and Savior. Though maybe obvious but not a conscious awareness necessarily, we are reminded on this Feast about our direct connection with the people of Israel, the Jews.

The Catholic Church has come a long way in its understanding of this fact.  The us by the Jews and that we receive “nourishment from the good olive tree onto which the wild olive branches of the Gentiles have been grafted.”  The legend of the Magi, those from the wider Gentile world beyond the small confines of Israel, who come to find the light of a star and a new king born are a wonderful representation of ourselves who gather to profess our faith in that same king honored by the Magi but feared by Herod. 

They represent not the simple and ordinary, as the shepherds, but the high learning of science, star gazing, as they search for meaning and truth – and by association this time in which we live.

So, the seekers this Sunday; the Magi begin a journey because they knew something more was out there and they were determined to find it. They approached their journey with humility and open hearts and minds. It began by interpreting what they did best – the movement of the stars and planets to which they gave a meaning – to discover a new star, a new king.

They were in search before they arrived in Jerusalem: “Where is the newborn king of the Jews?  We saw his star at its rising . . .” they tell Herod.

Our Feast of the Epiphany reminds us that we Christians, we Gentiles, have a direct connection to the ancient Jews through their traditions, prophecies and the birth of Jesus himself within the Jewish tradition.

Therefore, we might say the Epiphany is probably among the most ecumenical of all Church feasts.  In a sense we might even say it is the most “Catholic” of all Christian feasts due to its universal inclusion of the Gentile world. As the Magi come to symbolize the greater world beyond ancient Bethlehem and Jerusalem, we see ourselves reflected in them.  To follow the signs of nature in the bright star and to interpret a deeper significance in the shining light, the Magi laid aside all other attractions in their lives and saw in this new young child a greater King; a person of higher rank than themselves and deserving of honor, which they offered in a humble spirit. What moved them to see in a baby, or more likely a two-year-old child with his mother, this greatness? A hunger, a desire to discover, a humble submission to the truth before them.

The Magi represent the intellectual world; the higher ranked ones; the kind of elite and wealthy whose knowledge not only about their own study of the stars and planets was great but also their knowledge of what the ancient Jews believed about the Messiah.  They represented an open mind and set out on a journey to ultimately find the truth; something and someone who represented more than what they knew.

So, it’s clear that they were on a search and staying in Jerusalem was not on their agenda.  Once they were led to Bethlehem by the light of a star, or perhaps an angel as some tradition says, they found the one they searched for and laid down their gifts. They saw not in the powerful and the learned the fulfillment of their hopes; someone like themselves but in a small child with his mother.  Something more was at work in this event that led them to a deeper awareness that something far more is outside them. Their faith was changed. Once they returned to their country, we can only imagine what they might have told others about their search.

So, the Epiphany is an opportunity to recognize those moments in our lives when we have come to a deeper understanding of our faith and to acknowledge from where we came; from the chosen people on whose vine, we were grafted. We may be tempted to look at this Epiphany story as a kind of passive event.  The Magi journey, they find their way to Jerusalem, have a questionable encounter with King Herod, go to Bethlehem, find the child, present their gifts and go on their way.

But today we hear in Isaiah of God’s effort to reveal his Son and show to humanity our value, our dignity, and his obsessive love for us all: “Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you!”  No longer do we need to wander aimlessly trying to fulfill ourselves in limited pleasures and pursuits.  All we need is found in this child, this God-Man in our midst. More than just love to see in Jesus a light which leads us to the truth of God and cuts through all that isn’t him; everything we go in search of thinking that will fulfill us. It’s plenty: money, position, power, fame, technology, the latest and the brightest.  Everything the world says we need to have a meaningful life.

So, though our gift giving may be ended for this season, or if maybe you give on today’s Epiphany, the ultimate gift is one that God gives us; the gift of himself in his Son and like the Magi we follow the path to him. We meet him on his terms, not on our own.  The Magi returned to their Country by another route not only because they were warned to do so but more because they were forever changed.

The Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord is filled with the image of light. As we draw life from ancient Israel we are called to lead others on their search from darkness to a new light. What kind of light do we bring to others?

 

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

For this beautiful Feast of the Holy Family take a look at Bishop Barron's compelling insight for this celebration in the video above. 

The readings are below along with the opening prayer (Collect) of the Mass.  May all families find in their collective sharing of life, the joy of the new born Savior and may each discover their mission in the world today.  

Readings

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122924.cfm

May wounded families seek healing and reconciliation, may those parents who have lost a child, particularly in this past year of 2024, find the comfort and hope they need at this time.  May parents who have separated or divorced take solace in faith and still feel a part of the Catholic family and may single parents have the perseverance and gratitude of their children and others. 

  

O God , who were pleased to give us

the shining example of the Holy Family,

graciously grant that we may imitate them

in practicing the virtues of family life

and in the bonds of charity,

and so, in the joy of your house, 

delight one day in eternal rewards.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.

(Collect)

Christmas - A light will shine!

 

"For a child is born to us, a son is given us."

Luke 2: 1-14

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122524-Night.cfm

The image of the beloved Christmas scene at a cave outside Bethlehem has become the iconic image of this beautiful time of year in the Christian world.  Yet, as C.S. Lewis wrote, Jesus came, “Slipping behind enemy lines,” which implies a battle scene, one waiting to attack the enemy and proclaim victory in the end.  It implies one who feels their undetected use of power will overcome the opposition without warning.

Even the prophet Isaiah, like a trumpet that is blown, begins our first reading from the Christmas Mass at night with the words: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” He goes on to speak a message of hope and healing to a people who have been downtrodden, burdened, held in slavery.  But it’s more than just a comforting promise.  He quickly gives a human identity to the message and speaks of a child to be born, a “son is given us who is named: “Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-forever, and Prince of Peace.”

So we might imagine as the chosen people hoped for centuries, that a mighty figure would be a man of great power and influence over humanity.  He would amass a fearless army, live in palaces and spread his royal line well beyond himself and make a mighty nation to rule over the world. In fact, we are faced this time of year with an event that called for a clash of two powers: that of the earth and that of God; the earthly and the divine.  Darkness and Light face each other in the most unlikely way. In other words. For all of its sentimentality, Christmas is not about sweetness and cuddly little babies. Rather, there is an element of confrontation between the powers of light (God) and the power of darkness (Satan). God comes to reclaim the world and to rescue us from certain destruction: to replace evil with love, violence with peace, division with unity, isolation with community. And to establish the power and God’s kingdom with the promise of eternal life so that death is not the result of sin but rather a door to salvation.

Luke begins the familiar Christmas story with the most powerful person in the ancient world, Caesar Augustus Emperor of ancient Rome.  This man who saw himself as a great peacemaker, also bore the title of Savior and Lord.  Whatever Caesar wants or wills, Caesar gets.  He speaks his “good news” and it happens at his will. His power is absolute, unquestionable and he rules by fear and force with a mighty army. Into this world, another power appears on the scene – quietly and clandestinely – “behind enemy lines.”

The scene then shifts to a young, obscure and poor Jewish couple who obediently travel to the village of Bethlehem to register for the census the powerful Caesar has demanded and the mother is very near child birth.  Luke’s continued focus on this scene powerfully tells us that the child which Mary bears will be the prince of peace. In fact, Luke’s narration has more to do with this couple and child than it does with mighty Caesar.  The power of this child far out shines that of earth.

If we can remove sentimentality around the manger scene for a moment it brings us to see this as a great playing out of God’s plan from the beginning.  If we can see this as the culmination of centuries of human experience planned in the mind of God to send his Son among us then we cannot ignore what God is saying.  What drama do we participate in? The Christmas message is a proposal to all humankind that humanity and all creation is worth saving; that we are loved by a God who operates only out of love for the other and that he comes to set us free and that no matter how far to the dark we may have gone, no one is beyond conversion if we follow the path he shows us.

Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and Zachariah and John the Baptist as central figures in this unfolding of God’s plan are not figures of power and influence.  They come as simple and ordinary. Yet through their cooperation God changes the world. This is God’s plan and the story he has written and directed in the birth of this child to whom everyone looks as the central figure in the new order God has arranged.

But, a child seems powerless.  The contrast could not be more stark between the fearful Caesar in a palace the most powerful man on earth and a young couple in a tiny stable with animals and what seems an ordinary Jewish baby whose coming challenges us to recognize who truly rules the world and by what force – that of love and mercy.

So, the Christmas story assures us that the power of God has come.  The power, unlike that of ancient Caesar or any present day leader, to bring about an interior change in our hearts.  Earthly power affect the external world.  Laws can be changed or enforced and other economic fallout is measured but the power of Christ replaces fear with faith, doubt with trust, and hopelessness with hope. Through an interior change of heart and mind with the greater power of love, forgiveness, healing and hope.  That is a power we are called to exercise ourselves and to reject fear, force, greed, indifference, and selfishness from our hearts.

God chose to do this. The birth of this good news was brought to the world not through a mighty army, the blast of a trumpet or some unexpected proclamation.  It came through the cry of a new born child.  The cry of a baby is the sound of Christmas; it announces a new beginning, a new hope, a promise beyond our expectation, and a love beyond all telling.

What can we learn?  That we must look for God in the ordinary and the margins around us. We see that real power is that of a love which gives itself away as the infant was laid not in a comfortable crib but on straw, in a manger, a feeding trough for the animals in the cave.  Jesus, then offers himself as food for the world, as the bread of life, as the Holy Eucharist at each Mass. The Lord comes to us once again is that great sign of unity to go from the manger to the altar to our lives as food for our journey back to him.

As we gather around Word and Sacrament at Holy Mass this Christmastime, let’s reflect, rejoice, and embrace this new good news of the Savior that is both ancient and new. God entered secretly in Bethlehem so that we might find him and rejoice at his coming.