Every year, at the end of the Christmas season, we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. John is baptizing the people in the River Jordan, calling them to repent for their sins and proclaiming the good news that the kingdom is near at hand. Behold, Jesus appears to him seemingly out of nowhere, asking to be baptized himself.
Already by the year 300 AD, the Eastern Church celebrated the Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord on January 6. In the Western Church, this feast was mentioned in the Liturgy of the Hours. With the reforms of the Second Vatican Council that took place in 1969, the date for this Feast was set on the Sunday after the Epiphany. The Christmas Season concludes with the celebration of this feast.
It is interesting for us to note that neither John the Baptist nor Jesus invented baptism. The Jews had practiced a type of baptism for centuries as the ritual equivalent to our Confession. Until the fall of the Temple in 70 AD, it was common for Jewish people to use a special pool called a Mikveh as a means of spiritual cleansing, to remove spiritual impurity and sin. Jews commonly took this bath weekly on the eve of the Sabbath. Converts were also expected to take this bath before their entrance to Judaism. Many Orthodox Jews still retain the rite. John the Baptist preached that such a bath was a necessary preparation for the new era that would be inaugurated by the coming Messiah. Jesus transformed this ritual into the one single, definitive act by which we begin our life of faith in him.
We know that Jesus in his divine nature does not need to be baptized as the son of God, as we ourselves are baptized in his name and the name of the entire Trinity as we enter the Church and the Catholic faith. Jesus undergoes this baptism in the Jordan River as he begins his public ministry in Ancient Israel. At this point he has not started his teaching or healing ministry, he has not yet fed the hungry crowds, he has not yet publicly started his proclamation of God’s kingdom. In his baptism, God declares Jesus to be his beloved son as the Holy Spirit descends upon him like a dove. God is pleased with Jesus' presence.
Baptism is our initiation into the Christian community, into the Body of Christ. In the waters of baptism, we died to our old selves and we are cleansed from our sins and raised to new life. Through the anointing of the oil of chrism that is a part of our baptismal rite, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and we are permanently claimed as Christ’s disciple. We are claimed for Christ not because we have done something or earned something. We are claimed for Christ because we are open to the faith and open to being Christ’s disciple.
The feast of the baptism of the Lord today reminds us of our identify and our mission. It reminds us of who we are and whose we are. Through our baptism, we become the adoptive sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ, members of his Church, heirs of Heaven and temples of the Holy Spirit. We become incorporated into the Body of Christ and made sharers in his priesthood of Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to our life in the Holy Spirit and the door which gives access to the other Sacraments of the Church. (1213). Think of how many Catholics dip the fingers of their right hand into the holy water font and bless ourselves when they enter church for mass. This blessing with holy water from the font reminds us of our own baptism. When we bless ourselves with holy water, we should think of the fact that we are children of God; that we have been redeemed by the Cross of Christ; that we are members of God’s family; and that we have been washed, forgiven, cleansed and purified by the blood of the Lamb. It is our mission to continue Christ’s mission on earth by virtue of our own baptism. Blessings to all of you as our Christmas season comes to a close and we once again continue our journey of faith in ordinary time.
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