BAPTISM OF OUR LORD

Is 40:1-5, 9-11, TITUS 2:11-14, 3:4-7,Gosple: LUKE 3:15-16, 21-22
There is an old Hindu parable about a tiger cub raised by goats. The cub learned to bleat and nibble grass and behave like a goat. One night a tiger attacked the goats, which scattered for safety. But the tiger cub kept grazing and crying like a goat without getting frightened. The old tiger roared, "What are you doing here, living with these cowardly goats?" He grabbed the cub by the scruff, dragged him to a pond and said: "Look how our faces reflected in water? Now you know who you are and whose you are." The tiger took the cub home, taught him how to catch animals, eat their meat, roar and act like a tiger. The tiger cub thus discovered his true self. Today’s gospel seems to suggest that Jesus received from heaven a fresh flash of realization of who, and Whose, he really was (his identity) and what he was supposed to do (his mission),.
Christ began fulfilling his mission at the incarnation, and shifted into high gear when he began his public ministry thirty years later. This public ministry started with his baptism, when God the Father made a public announcement, so to speak, regarding his qualifications. This is why today's celebration marks the transition from the liturgical season of Christmas into the liturgical season of Ordinary Time.
When Jesus came from Nazareth to be baptized, John immediately recognized him. Matthew tells us that John was reluctant to baptize Jesus, telling it is he who needed to be baptized by Jesus. Jesus did not need baptism. The Sinless One had no need of forgiveness. Why then did Jesus choose to be baptized by John?
One answer we might give lies in the revelation of divine humility. The Son of God not only washed the feet of sinners, he allowed himself to be numbered with them. It is significant that here, at the beginning of Christ's ministry, the revelation of his divine sonship is also the revelation of the Father and the Holy Spirit. There is a gentle approval in the tender words of the Father and the presence of the Spirit in the form of a graceful dove, as the Son of God submits to baptism with a loving humility.
The meaning of Christ's baptism does not end there because by descending into the waters and re-emerging, Christ symbolically anticipates his coming death and resurrection. Baptism signifies the death of the old self. Before anything new can be born, the old has to pass away. Jesus takes our old life and dies with it and hands us new life.
French writer Henri Barbusse tells of a conversation overheard in a trench full of wounded men during the First World War. One of the men, who knew he only had minutes to live says to another man, "Listen, Dominic, you've led a very bad life. Everywhere you are wanted by the police. But there are no convictions against me. My name is clear, so, here, take my wallet, take my papers, my identity, take my good name, my life and quickly, hand me your papers that I may carry all your crimes
away with me in death."
The Good News is that through Jesus, God makes a similar offer. Something wonderful happens to us when we are baptized. When we are baptized, we identify ourselves with Jesus. Our lives are changed. We see things and people differently than before. We are able to identify with Jesus because He was baptized. And we are able to love as he loved. Such identification is life changing. Because we are given the holy spirit to empower to live life guided by the spirit. The gospel says: The Spirit descends "like a dove." The Holy Spirit is not a bird. The dove is a metaphor for the Spirit's coming into our lives. It is a beautiful metaphor. Have you ever seen a dove descend and land? It is graceful, gentle, and quiet. That's the point being made. That is the way the Holy Spirit will enter into our lives. The Holy Spirit came to Jesus gently, quietly, and privately. The Holy Spirit descended upon him while he was by himself praying." In other words, it wasn't a public event. It was a personal and private experience. No one else saw it. No one else heard that voice from heaven. He came out of the water, went off by himself, and prayed. That is what happened. This is what happens in our life too.
The "baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit and the door which gives access to the other Sacraments" (CCC, 1213). The 13th century king of France, St. Louis IX (1226-70), insisted that the grand celebration of his birthday should be held on the day of his baptism, and not on his birthday proper. His argument was that baptism was the beginning of a life that would continue for eternity in the everlasting glory of heaven.
Most of us dipped the fingers into the holy water font and blessed ourselves when we came into church today. Why? This blessing is supposed to remind us of our baptism. And so when I bless myself with holy water, I should be thinking of the fact that I am a child of God; that I have been redeemed by the Cross of Christ; that I have been made a member of God’s family and that I have been washed, forgiven, cleansed and purified by the blood of the Lamb. We express these faiths by crossing ourselves with holy water. Faith is the essential element of baptism. An infant, though, doesn’t possess faith to receive baptism, is baptized by the faith of the parents. A paralytic was brought to Jesus by a few people, Jesus healed him looking at the faith of the people who brought him, not at the faith of the paralytic. This is what happens in infant baptism. That is why the church refuses to baptize infants whose parents don’t have faith or do not practice faith.
A drunk stumbles across a Pentecostal baptismal service on Sunday afternoon down by the river. He proceeds to walk down into the water and stand next to the Preacher. The minister turns and notices him and says, "Mister, are you ready to find Jesus?" The drunk looks back and says, "Yes, Preacher. I sure am." The minister then dunks the fellow under the water and pulls him right back up. "Have you found Jesus?" the preacher asked. "No, I didn't!" said the drunk. The preacher then dunks him under for quite a bit longer, brings him up and says, "Now, brother, have you found Jesus?” “No, I did not, Reverend." The preacher in disgust holds the man under for at least 30 seconds this time, brings him out of the water and says in a harsh tone, "My God, have you found Jesus yet?” The old drunk wipes his eyes and says to the preacher... "Are you sure this is where he fell in?" So if one receives baptism without faith he will not find Jesus.
This is also a day for us to renew our baptismal vows by consecrating ourselves to the Holy Trinity and "by rejecting Satan and all his empty promises," which our profane world is constantly offering us through its mass media of communication. Let us ask Our Lord today to make us faithful to our Baptismal promises.
Today, as Jesus renews his commitment to us in this Mass, let's thank him for reuniting us with the Father, and ask for the grace to live as the children of God in thought, word and action so that our Heavenly Father may say to each one of us as He said to Jesus: "You are my beloved son/daughter in whom I am well pleased"