Baptized as Disciples
To All,
This Sunday, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, This marks the end of the Christmas liturgical season and the beginning of the season of Ordinary Time.
In our Gospel reading (Matthew 3:13-17), Jesus comes to the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist. John immediately recognizes that Jesus is the one whom he has been proclaiming all this time, and says, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” But Jesus reassures him: “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” In other words, Jesus’ baptism, even though John was baptizing for the people to repent of their sins to prepare themselves for His coming, was part of God’s plan of salvation. As St. Paul wrote: “For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
In our Scripture readings for Sunday, we hear prophecies and testimonies referring to Jesus, but they also call us to follow Jesus in becoming “the righteousness of God in him.” In our first reading (Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7), Isaiah proclaims: “Thus says the Lord: Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased…he shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he established justice on the earth…I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice…I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”
In our second reading (Acts 10:34-38), Peter is speaking to the house of Cornelius (the whole story is worth reading): “In truth I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him. You know the word that he sent to the Israelites as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ…beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
In our Gospel reading, when Jesus is baptized,
“he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
As I said before, all these testimonies about Jesus are also meant for us, calling us to follow Him. Can we hear the call? Can we hear God saying to us that He is well pleased with us? I don’t mean that we are free from sin, and that we never do things that displease God. But I do believe that God is pleased that we exist, for God made us in God’s image. God made us as beloved children.
Our response to God’s unconditional love is to put on Christ, which happens when we are baptized. And so, we are called to show “no partiality,” but to welcome everyone. We are called to work for “the victory of justice” and make peace. We are called not to condemn, not to break “a bruised reed,” or quench a “smoldering wick.” In other words, we are not here to browbeat one another, or declare others as “god-forsaken,” but to help lift others up. We are called to help open the eyes of those blind to God’s love for them. We are called to help release those who are prisoners of addiction or despair, as we ourselves have been freed. We are called to help those who are walking in the darkness of hate and fear and indifference, just as we have been shown the light of Christ.
By the gift of baptism, we have been given the grace to follow Jesus. May our efforts be blessed by God, and may they be a blessing for others.
I welcome any comments or questions. Thanks for your time.
In Christ,
Phil, CP
