FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD

BAPTISM OF OUR LORD.

Today's feast marks both an ending and a beginning. It is the final celebration of the Christmas period, and yet it is also the first Sunday of 'Ordinary Time'. It is appropriate that this transition from Christmas to Ordinary Time be marked by the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. That event, which we hear about in today's Gospel, was the beginning of Christ's active ministry in the world, and it culminates in the testimony of the Father to the identity of the Son. It is the occasion of the first public revelation of all the Three Persons in the Holy Trinity, and the official revelation of Jesus as the Son of God to the world by God the Father. It is also an event described by all the four gospels, and it marks the beginning of Jesus' public ministry.

Why did Jesus, the sinless Son of God, receive the 'baptism of repentance' meant for sinners? Why did Jesus wait for thirty years to begin his public ministry? The strange answer for the first question given by the apocryphal book, "The Gospel According to the Hebrews," is that Jesus received the baptism of John to please his mother and relatives. Jesus’ baptism by John was the acceptance and the beginning of his mission as God’s suffering Servant. He allowed himself to be numbered among sinners.
Mahatma Gandhi the father of nation of India is always pictured with a loin cloth and a pair of glasses and a walking stick. One of the reasons why Gandhi put on a loincloth and fasted from food, almost to the point of death, was to show solidarity with the Indian people, identifying with them in their physical sufferings. This finally brought independence to India. Jesus’ baptism was his identification with God’s chosen people who became aware of their sinful lives and need of God’s forgiveness.
The Fathers of the Church point out that the words the voice from the heavenly Father speaks are similar to Psalm 2:17, revealing Jesus’ identity ("This is my beloved Son") and of Isaiah 42:1 referring to the "suffering servant": "with whom I am well pleased," revealing Jesus’ mission of saving mankind by his suffering and death. His mission of saving mankind would be fulfilled, not by conquering the Romans, but by becoming the "suffering servant" of God, i.e., by the cross.

Jesus accepted baptism on purpose. He knows that since we live in a fallen world, a world ruled by selfishness, we too will have to die on our crosses in order to fulfill our vocation to love as Christ loved. And if we do our best to carry generously the crosses that the Lord allows to come our way, then we will be well-prepared for the final phase of Christian life.

There are two very different ways how people think about baptism. The first approach recognizes the time of baptism as a saving moment in which the person being baptized accepts the love and forgiveness of God. The person then considers himself "saved." He or she may grow in the faith through the years, but nothing which he will experience after his baptism will be as important as his baptism. He always will be able to recall his baptism as the time when his life changed. This is mostly the non catholic approach.

The second approach wouldn't disagree with any of that, but would add to it significantly. This idea affirms baptism as the time when God's love and forgiveness are experienced. It also recognizes baptism as a time of change. However, where the first approach isolates the act of baptism as the most important moment, the second approach understands baptism more as a beginning. While it is true that in the waters of baptism God laid claim on our lives, it is also true that we spend the rest of our lives trying to figure out what that means. The first understanding often overlooks the journey which follows baptism. We need to live the promises of Baptism only then we reach salvation. Just by receiving baptism and living a life contradictory to the promises made will not save us. This is primarily the Catholic approach. Baptism is not something we earn, nor is it a sign that we have found all the answers. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Baptism is a beginning. It is the desire to see the world differently, to see each other differently, and even to see ourselves differently. Baptism is a fresh start, not a destination. Baptism is not a trial-free membership, but a rite of initiation into a way of life in which Jesus promised there would be trials. Right after Baptism Jesus went into the wilderness to be tried by Satan. We too are not exempt from that. Our journey of faith continues to unfold long after our baptism as we try to discern what our baptism means in our daily living.

Our journey home too begins with baptism, when we are adopted as sons and daughters of God. This means that what the Father says to Christ in today's Gospel he also says to us: you are my beloved child. Today we hear from God the words that must transform our lives, because these words of love become the centre of our being now that we are a new creation in Christ.

Ted Williams, a homeless man of Ohio with a golden voice who had an interview on TV the other day says he found a transformation in his life after living 10 years in addictions and living on streets. His new-found faith brought joy to his struggling life. And all the surprising joy of his second chance, he offered up in thanks to God. The difference between my successes of years gone by is that I didn't acknowledge the Lord or thank him for anything before," he told. "This time around, I have God in my life, acknowledging him on a daily basis. I've found a new sense of spirituality now.
Baptism is an ordination. With baptism comes the Spirit, and with the Spirit come gifts to be used in the service of God. How much of the divine gifts do I use in service of God and others ? Do I acknowledge my own dignity as God’s child, and to appreciate the divine presence in others by honoring them, loving them and serving them in all humility ?

This is the day for us to remember the graces we have received in baptism and to renew our baptismal promises. Most of us dipped the fingers of our right hands 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.
On the day of our baptism, as Pope John Paul II explains, "We were anointed with the oil of catechumens, the sign of Christ's gentle strength, to fight against evil. Blessed water was poured over us, an effective sign of interior purification through the gift of the Holy Spirit. We were then anointed with chrism to show that we were thus consecrated in the image of Jesus, the Father's Anointed One. The candle lighted from the paschal candle was a symbol of the light of faith which our parents and godparents must have continually safeguarded and nourished with the life-giving grace of the Spirit." This is also a day for us to renew our baptismal promises 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. Let us thank Him for the privilege of being joined to His mission of preaching the ‘Good News’ by our transparent Christian lives of love, mercy, service and forgiveness.