Today, we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord, the official end to the Christmas season. There is still some confusion about the timing of the Christmas season, so I found this statement on the website of the Conference of the US Bishops for clarification: “The liturgical season of Christmas begins with the vigil Masses on Christmas Eve and concludes on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. During this season, we celebrate the birth of Christ into our world and into our hearts, and reflect on the gift of salvation that is born with him…including the fact that he was born to die for us.”
It might seem strange to us that we end the Christmas season with Jesus’ baptism, as the other major feast days in the Christmas season have to do with his birth and with his family. But, the Church concludes the Christmas season with this feast day because Jesus' baptism reinforces the Christmas message. His baptism tells us that God's chosen way of being with us is not as a faraway ruler of the universe up in the heavens, but as God who chooses solidarity with us in all our human weakness. Jesus' baptism show God as Emmanuel, as one of us.
As God with us, as God incarnate, Jesus leads us to be be what we were created to be. The other religions in the world do not see God as incarnate as one of us human beings. God chose to come to us in incarnate form in order to reveal his immense love for us.
What I find to be interesting is that the Orthodox Church uses this Gospel depicting Christ’s baptism as the Gospel reading for the feast of the Epiphany. They see Christ’s decision to submit to John’s baptism as the first revelation of who Jesus is. What is also interesting is that this Gospel of Christ’s baptism is the first depiction of God as Trinity. In this Gospel, Jesus is the beloved Son of God who is affirmed by the voice of God the Father and the Holy Spirit descending upon him like a dove.
We wish all of you blessings as our Christmas season comes to an end and as we enter some weeks of Ordinary Time before the start of Lent. As we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord today, may we be reminded of how our own baptism is a call for us to be in union with God and with God’s family. As Jesus’ baptism was a sign of his communion and solidarity with us, so we are called to communion and solidarity with God and with our brothers and sisters.
No comments:
Post a Comment