The Lord’s Baptism and Ours
The Christmas season comes to an end this weekend with the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. On first glance, it would seem this solemnity is ill-suited for its place in the liturgical calendar. For in the Christmas season, Masses are filled with stories of Jesus’ birth and his very early childhood in the case of the Epiphany. Suddenly, today’s Gospel propels us to the beginning of Jesus’ public life.
So what gives here? Well, the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord during the Christmas season reminds us of three important things. First, the birth of Jesus is only the beginning of the story of Jesus’ impact on all human beings from the time of his earthly life to the present. Celebrating this solemnity now reminds us that Jesus was not just born as a man, but was to redeem the world and provide a practical model for how we should live our lives. And so this solemnity helps us to transition from the birth of Jesus to the life of Jesus that we will celebrate the rest of the liturgical year,
Second, something even more important is happening at the Lord’s Baptism. It would seem at one level Jesus asking for Baptism seems rather a waste of time. For Jesus was God, and was incapable of sin. Nonetheless, Jesus did agree to take on a human nature in order to feel the full intimacy of God’s relationship to humans. He would take on people’s fears, doubts, joy, and sorrow, even suffering death on a Cross. So Jesus’ request for Baptism is part of his loving covenant with human beings.
Jesus’ Baptism in our Gospel according to Mark this evening provides the answer to the meaning of the solemnity and its significance for us. The baptism John the Baptist performs unleashes the Holy Spirit, demonstrating that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. But it gave Jesus’ human nature the ability to do things that no man could otherwise do; to act in a manner beyond human capacity. Our first reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah confirms this action of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah tells us that the Holy Spirit will anoint Jesus the servant with power to bring justice on the earth.
Thirdly, the Baptism of the Lord is not just about Jesus. For Jesus not left us with a model for how to live, he sent the Holy Spirit to be with us so that we could indeed live that model of life. The Holy Spirit, through his gifts, fruits and charisms, gives us the same ability that Jesus’ human nature received from that Spirit to also bring justice to the world by the way we live. This is why Baptism is so important to any Christian. For it is the means by which we share in the power and the love of Jesus, and receive the ability to love God and others effectively. Without the sending of the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of Baptism, we do not have the efficacy of the power of God in our own lives and in those of others. Jesus’ Baptism is joined to ours for the benefit of ourselves and the whole Kingdom of God of which we become a part through Baptism.
One of the main reasons the Church spread so quickly from Palestine throughout the world in the first few centuries after the time of Jesus was the ability of its followers to offer spiritual and physical healing to others. As Christians received Baptism and Confirmation, they were able to address the spiritual and very practical needs of people in a world of great sickness, anxiety, and insecurity.
Over time, we lost touch with our ability to perform such healing as Jesus had taught and empowered his followers to do. As such, it is good to remember that all of us receive the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. IT IS A MOST UNDERRATED PART OF OUR FAITH. The ways in which we put the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit into action are called charisms. Charisms vary widely in their manifestations. Some can be quite controversial if we do not understand them, like speaking in tongues and performing physical healings. Others like music ministries and skills of administration are far more accepted. But whether we realize it or not, all Catholics, if they practice their faith are charismatics. We all have the ability to build up the Church and to provide healing, albeit in different forms.
The late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, and the current one Pope Benedict XVI, neither of whom could be considered blow dry preachers, are both charismatic and spiritual healers. The very Constitution of the Catholic Church, paragraph 12, says that charismatic gifts “whether they are the more outstanding, or the more simple and widely diffused, are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation, for they are exceedingly suitable and useful to the needs of the Church.”
Now to be sure, there are different kinds of spiritual and physical healers. Some, like doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, combine their spiritual healing with God’s gift of science to perform physical healings. For others, our abilities may seem less concrete but they can be just as effective, even in professional settings that can hardly be described as religious or spiritual.
Over the past few years, I have tried to show you the power of the Holy Spirit and how it can change lives. I have shared with you the story of a how a small child with 57 cents eventually helped to build a new church, a modern hospital and a research university. Or the story of Rose, the 80-plus year old little lady who went back to school to get her university degree and in the process inspired hundreds of her classmates to live better and more productive lives. The story of a little girl on the beach, who though dying of cancer, inspires a cynical grownup to consider how we are called to love ourselves and others. People contemplating suicide saved by simple acts of caring from others that reminded them that the world was not created to be an evil place. Kindnesses extended to little children that changed their lives and made them loving adults.
Brothers and sisters, I have not brought these stories to you just to make you feel good. The anxieties, challenges, and yes even the sufferings of life are virulent and strong. There is so much suffering and need. And we can fall prey to indifference. But every one of us, sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit at Baptism are given the ability in our homes and workplaces to change people’s lives for the better just as Jesus after his Baptism. God gave us this ability no less in their meaning than that given to the apostles, as Peter talks about in our second reading today.
So start out today by forgiving yourself, your husbands, your wives, your children, your brothers and sisters, your in-laws, your relatives, your co-workers, your neighbors, and anyone else you need to forgive. Ask for their forgiveness. And then, sometime this week, perform a spiritual healing. You won’t need a new hairdo, a fancy suit, or a shrieking voice. Just ask for the healing powers that God have given all of us to be activated in you. If you do, I promise you; you will feel Jesus’ joy and peace. And you will see the power of the Baptism of the Lord come shining through in your own life.