Homily for the week of January 9, 2011

Baptism of the Lord, 2011

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7: Psalms 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10: Acts 10:34-38: Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

There is a great time-shift in the Gospel. Today is the official conclusion of the Christmas season. Thirty years have passed in the life of Jesus since last-Sunday’s Gospel when the Magi were visiting the Holy Family at Bethlehem. Today we celebrate that day when Jesus’ cousin John baptized him in the Jordan River. Like you and I Jesus was baptized with water and the Holy Spirit.

The feast of the Baptism of the Lord gives us an opportunity to reflect on our own baptism and what it means to us and for us. Our Baptism was the day in which we became a Catholic. We officially were given a name by our parents. Our parents and godparents promised for us that they would do all they could to help us be practicing members of the Catholic church. All of this was completed with water.

Just reflect, for instance, on the natural and symbolic power of water, that earthly substance we use in so many ways every day with a simple formula: H2O. Looking at water, we might think that it's the most simple thing around. Pure water is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Water is vital for all life on Earth. NASA has spent billions of dollars to determine if there is water on Mars. Where there is water there is life, and where water is scarce, life has to struggle. Our human body literally baths in water. Up to 60 percent of the human body is water, the brain is composed of 70 percent water, blood is 82 percent water, and the lungs are nearly 90 percent water.

We drink water when we are hot and thirsty and we immediately feel strengthened. We take a shower after a hard workout and feel refreshed. We water the plant on our window sill and suddenly it perks up again. We toss our dirty clothes into the washer and out they come, clean again. Without drinking water none of us would be here today. We need it for survival. Imagine a day without water. But with too much water we can drown.

But water has another side. Without proper care we could die from drowning. We also see the power of water when a gentle river like the Saranac suddenly becomes a roaring torrent, overflowing its banks in the Spring. We have seen another aspect of water such as when an earthquake creates ocean waves that travel faster than a jet plane, and kills thousands of persons, or breaks the levees as it did with Katrina in New Orleans.

In all of these examples water speaks to us of comfort, soothing warmth, but it also naturally warns us of the deadly power contained within it. Water, of course, does not know that it has all this power. We humans are the ones who have found these qualities. In short, water is more than water; it is all those things we discover in it, for good or bad!

It is not unlikely then, that over many centuries we humans have also discovered a certain religious or spiritual meaning in water. In the Bible water has been both a symbol of death and of rebirth. The book of Genesis portrays a great flood which destroyed all human life except Noah’s family. And the Jewish people flee persecution in Egypt through the Red Sea which opened up for them.

The Jewish people had dozens of different washings which they observed practically every day, mainly to be ritually purified, They would wash when they came in contact with blood, or a dead body, or eating some forbidden food.

I'm sure we all have discovered from experience the spiritual power of water. I can readily remember my mother taking the holy water bottle in the summer when a storm was coming, and she would sprinkle the house with it. Whether the holy water by itself accomplished anything, I'm not sure, but my mother had great faith in holy water's power, and to be honest, our house was never destroyed by lightening.

Jesus is no longer a baby or a child but is ready to take on his mission as an adult. The Gospel account describes extraordinary occurrences. The heavens open and the Spirit of God descends like a dove; a voice from heaven identifies Jesus as “beloved Son.” Jesus had no need for baptism, and initially he objected. But Jesus insisted that it was important “to fulfil all righteousness.” and to prepare for his the work which God had intended for him.

While Jesus was being baptized, he experienced a mysterious call from God, telling him that he should consider himself, an anointed one, a specially called Son. In other words, it was at Jesus' baptism that he first learned his call, his vocation, because he immediately left the river and went out into the desert to reflect on what this mysterious call might mean.

Jesus came to this event by free choice and it was for him the beginning of the rest of his adult preaching and healing ministry. For most of us, it is often many years before we begin to understand the fuller meaning of what happened to us at our Baptism.

The feast of the Baptism of Jesus is a good time for us to consider our own baptism, the time when we too became beloved children of God. Baptism is the most precious gift we have received. We have been clothed in the Spirit. On this day of the Baptism of the Lord, it might be good for us to be thankful for our own baptism. Parents and godparents might again renew their commitment to raise their children to be aware of their baptism, and what it means to be a member of the church. It also should be a reminder not to put off Baptism of children.

At the end of our life we are brought into a Catholic church for a Catholic funeral. As the body is brought into the church the priest sprinkles the body with holy water, and then family members will spread a large white cloth over the casket, a symbol representing the baptism clothes which that person wore at Baptism -- most of the time many, many years before. This gives meaning to the words used at Baptism, with your family and friends to help you...bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven.

Our Baptism was both an event and a process. This brief Baptism ceremony began a lifelong process. We began to live as the beloved daughters and sons of God. The water poured over our heads at Baptism was a sign that all our life we need to be aware of the spiritually drowning waters of sin, and refreshing waters of goodness. Our baptismal certificate may be old, but we need to live our baptism every day.