Homilies

FEAST OF THE LORD'S BAPTISM: REMEMBERING OUR OWN BAPTISM

WE CELEBRATE TODAY the Baptism of the Lord Jesus. Liturgically speaking, this celebration put the Christmas Season to a close, and it marks the beginning of the season of Ordinary Time. After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan by John, “on coming out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon Him. And a voice came from the heavens: ‘You are my beloved Son; with you, I am well-pleased’ ”. Let us try to reflect on this important feast.

First, the baptism of Jesus is one of the few gospel passages which show that our God is three persons. In other words, this is one biblical basis for our belief in the one and triune God. There is Jesus being baptized, there is the Spirit descending upon him, and the Father’s voice is heard. In Jesus’ baptism, the two other persons are present and have witnessed to it.

Secondly, let us take note that John was hesitant to baptize Jesus. But the latter was insistent “to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus did not need to be baptized. The people who came to John were in need of baptism which is seen as baptism of repentance. This is also our kind of baptism. When we are baptized, we are cleansed from the so-called “original sin.”  So, we have to make it clear that the baptism of Jesus is different from our own baptism. Ours is more of cleansing from the original sin. But Jesus is not like us, being sinners. Indeed, he became human and got what it takes to be a human being, but not sin. When Jesus queued up with the people, he was actually standing in solidarity with the sinners.  He was not a sinner, but he was in union with the sinners who long for conversion. 

Thirdly, on his baptism, Jesus received His visible anointing for ministry and mission. The Church Fathers wrote that He received His anointing as Messiah when the Son of God was united by the Holy Spirit to the humanity He took to himself. In His human consciousness and in the belief of the church, this moment was impressed indelibly, for it marked Jesus’ inauguration of His public life after thirty years of hidden life. All the four Gospels mention His baptism by John. At this moment, Jesus received a greater awareness of His call, His mission to be the Messiah. There is all clarity about the moment of the call, or about the identity of the caller, the one who sends. Jesus knew that He was being sent by the Father, and that He was anointed by the Spirit of God. And He answered the call, He responded to the mission and all that it entailed.

It is for this reason that we could see a similarity of Jesus’ baptism and ours. When we were baptized, we have received also a call for mission to preach Jesus and his gospel to others. This call is being iterated and being made clear when we received the sacrament of confirmation. Like Jesus, we need to answer that call; we need to respond to that mission. This appears to be very relevant because, in our age, more people have already forgotten Jesus, and worse, they intend to forget Jesus in their lives.  If we try to be faithful to this call for mission, more people will be reminded that there is a God who did not only create us, but also love us. He loves us by offering salvation for all of us.  

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