Cycle C - Year I:

13 January 2013 - Feast of the Lord's Baptism

(Liturgical color: White)

Luke 315-16, 21-22

The Lord's Baptism: a call to renew our baptismal vows!

After the long celebration of the Christmas Season, we are back to Ordinary Times. This Sunday we celebrate the baptism of our Lord Jesus in the Jordan river. Some Church people say that today is actually the official end of the Christmas Season.

Last Sunday, January 6, we celebrated the Lord's Epiphany, which means his manifestation or appearance as our Lord and King. Well, the baptism of the Lord is like a second Epiphany. Because in his baptism our Lord's identity as the Son of God is made known through the voice of God the Father Himself and the appearance of the Holy Spirit in bodily form of a dove.

We know of course that even in his humanity Jesus Christ was perfect and so he had no need to be  cleansed and regenerated in the waters of baptism. So, therefore, we ask, "Why did the Lord chose to be baptized by John the Baptist?"

We found the answer to that question in the writings of St. Maximus of Turin who lived in the late fourth century. St. Maximus tells us that "Christ was baptized not to be made holy by the waters of baptism but rather to make holy the waters of baptism and to purify these waters with His Body, so that all who would be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit would be cleansed of original sin, and be made adopted sons and daughters of the most high God. In doing so, Christ has elevated baptism to the dignity of a sacrament."

The baptism of the Lord inaugurates the beginning of his mission as the Messiah. This event has important and practical implications for us as well. Baptism is the first and most necessary sacrament for our salvation. In baptism we are washed free of original sin inherited by all human beings due to the fall of Adam and Eve as recorded in the Book of Genesis.

It is good to know the other significant effects of baptism in all baptized Christians:

In baptism, the soul is infused with sanctifying grace that makes us adopted children of the Father, and allows for the indwelling of the Trinity in our souls;

In baptism, the soul experiences an infusion of the "theological virtues" of faith, hope, and charity. They are so-called because these are the virtues most oriented toward God. In layman's language, these are the virtues that lead us to know and love God;

In baptism, we receive the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, namely: wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord. The Church teaches that "these gifts are given in a potential state, waiting to be actualized". That is why parents and godparents undertake an immense responsibility when the child is baptized. Because parents and godparents are charged with drawing out, or "actualizing", these gifts and the theological virtues that God has infused into that child's soul at baptism through their own guidance and examples.

Thus, the Feast of the Lord's Baptism  reminds us of our own baptismal vows as well. By our baptism we commit ourselves to take active part in the mission of the Church to preach the Good News of God's Kingdom in words and deeds. In other words, our baptism is made alive in us by our Christian living at home, in the work place, wherever we are.
A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Deo Optimo Maximo!