For His baptism

In the end, a new beginning

Today, the Church celebrates the Baptism of the Lord.  With this liturgical feast, we mark the end of the Christmas season.  At the end of the calendar year, we may have looked backward at the year gone by, and set resolutions for ourselves for this new calendar year.  Similarly, at the end of the Christmas season, we can look back at the past couple of weeks to consider some of the gifts we have received during this time, and to resolve to use them wisely in the year that lies ahead.

The feasts of the Nativity; the Holy Innocents; the Holy Family; the Epiphany; Mary, the Mother of God and the Baptism of the Lord are all different dimensions of the same mystery, so during the Season of Christmas, we contemplate (as through from different angles) the great gift of grace that was given to us when God came to earth to live among us.  Because we have heard the story of the nativity so often, it is perhaps easy for us to associate these liturgical feasts: contemplating the crèche, we see there the holy family, the mother of God, and the visits of the shepherds and of the Magi to the newborn child, but scripture tells us that Jesus was baptised as an adult, so this last part of the Christmas season might strike us as a bit out of sorts.

In truth, birth and baptism are celebrations which belong together.  In the waters of the Jordan, Jesus was spiritually born, just as we are sacramentally born at baptism.  In a sense, you might say that at his nativity he was physically born, but at his baptism he was born in mystery, and so are we.  When Christ was born in Bethlehem, his mother held him close to her heart, but when he was born in mystery, God the Father embraced him, just as we too are embraced by divine love for the first time at our baptism, and the voice of the Father called out: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  These are mysterious words which speak of heavenly tenderness.  They speak of a truth that we discover not at the level of reason, but rather at the level of faith.

Baptism is the first of all the Sacraments celebrated by the Church: a new beginning for every one of the Lord’s beloved.  Attempting to instruct his own apostle Titus so that he would understand the significance of baptism, Saint Paul told him that (in Christ) the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to live upright and godly lives while we wait in hope of witnessing the great glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  This grace of Christ is a free gift given to all the baptised.  By grace, we learn to see and to appreciate the gifts of God: gifts which have been spoken of since the time of Isaiah the prophet. 

Isaiah foretold God’s desire to comfort his beloved and to establish a relationship of tenderness with his beloved children.  The sign of this approaching gift, according to the prophet was that a voice would cry in the wilderness and urge us to prepare the way of the Lord.  So it was that the day arrived when John and Jesus met in the waters of the Jordan.  John knew that he himself was not the Messiah but I wonder whether he realized that his kinsman Jesus was the one for whom this honour was reserved.  According to the written account, when they met that day, John was hesitant to continue.  Perhaps by grace and faith he had already come to believe that before him was the one who was and is the author of all grace.  Because of his faith, perhaps he witnessed the voice calling from heaven that day: This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.  This same acclamation is sung when we bring a child (or an adult) to the font, although it is only through the ears of faith that we can hear such a song.

As we see the unfolding of this new beginning in Jesus’ life, we might be wise to take this opportunity, not only to be aware of the graces we have been given throughout this Christmas season, but to think for a moment about the ways in which we use these gifts to share the good news of our Savior’s presence with those we meet.

In your bulletins today, you will find a short ‘report’ of sorts about the work that is being accomplished by the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, thanks to our involvement and commitment to proclaiming Jesus’ love to those in our world who are most in need.

Another example of putting our faith into action was introduced in this Diocese almost twenty years ago, when we participated in the RENEW process.  Some of us may remember that experience.  It was perhaps the first time that we had been introduced to the concept of talking about our faith.  After all, Catholics have traditionally not been strong on this kind of conversation.  Yet for us, this was another new beginning.

When the current Year of Faith comes to a close at the beginning of the Advent season next November, parishes in our diocese will begin to experience one of its fruits, for we have been invited to participate in a new phase of the RENEW process, known as Arise together in Christ!  In the coming months, we will hear more about how this experience will unfold, but I can tell you already that from what I’ve seen, it holds great promise for the deepening of faith and heightening the awareness of the graces and gifts given to the Lord’s beloved children at baptism.