Homily for the Week of January 13, 2013

Baptism of the Lord, 2012 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 We celebrate today the feast of the Baptism of Jesus as we end the so-called Christmas season. This week we will be removing the Christmas crib until another Christmas. But while we remove the Christmas symbols we still recall the mystery of how God could become a human being, live among us and then calls us all back to him on our last day. But the person celebrated at Christmas still remains with us. That person, Jesus, ha now grown up. Today we read about his Baptism by John the Baptist. Unlike most of our Baptisms, the Baptism of Jesus took place when he was an adult and not a baby or child. Baptism is one of the 7 sacraments and it is known as the first of the sacraments of initiation. That means it is the first sacrament that we receive. We cannot receive the other sacraments until we have been baptized. Baptism is also the one sacrament that practically all Christian religions share in common although each religion baptizes at a different age. The Catholic church also accepts as valid the Baptism in many other religions provided that water was used. Even in the Catholic church Baptism is provided in different ways such as pouring water over the forehead as is done here. But some Catholic churches Baptize by immersion or placing the person in the water much as was done when Jesus was Baptized in the Jordan River. At his Baptism Jesus publicly took on the responsibility of doing what God wanted him to do. In a sense it was at his baptism that God gave him his vocation. It is at our Baptism that we became a Catholic. At that time we became part of the Catholic religion. As a young baby we had a lot of growing today in our religion. That is why parents and godparents promise that they will instruct their child in the ways of the Catholic faith. Most Catholics have heard the word vocation. In a sense it is at our baptism that God gives us our vocation. The vocation which we choose as we grow up is the way that will be the means for us to get to heaven. When Catholics think of vocation they usually think of marriage, or being single or becoming a priest or a nun or a deacon. Each Sunday our local newspaper has a page dedicated to those who are engaged, to those who have recently been married and to those who have been married for 25 or 50 or more years. All are part of the vocation of marriage. Unfortunately, most of you cannot remember when the newspaper reported that a person became a priest or a nun. You can probably remember, however, when the newspaper reported that a priest or nun died as was recorded in this weekend paper of the death of Sister Rose Curtin of Plattsburgh. Most of you have probably never heard of Francis and Clarence Devan and Ed Delaney. All three lived on the Hardcrabble Road and became Catholic priests. All are now dead and became priests more than 65 years ago. No one from this parish has replaced them. Perhaps our society does not encourage us to think in terms of vocation. Young persons are encouraged to choose a career rather than living out a vocation. On the other hand, we who are baptized are not called to a career, but to a vocation; not to a livelihood, but to a relationship, A vocation is a way of life, not a means of supporting our life. Yet, it is easy for us to confuse the two. Many years ago I wrestled within myself over what I thought I wanted and what I truly needed. As long as I focused on myself, I could not focus on God. It was only when I trusted that God knew me better than I know myself that I let God lead me to my vocation, and I choose to be a priest. Some of you may have been wrestling with your own vocation. For some of you it could be a call to be a priest, or nun or deacon. Many of you have already found your way to God through marriage or a committed single life. But some of you may need to mentally and spiritually make marriage or the single life a living vocation to go beyond what you are now doing. In the end God calls each of us to a vocation of profound love. There are no second class vocations; only second class choices when we leave God out of our decision making. Each of us are called to be God's love in the world, but the roads are different. We must allow God to form us. Pray that each of us will be on the lookout for God who is always Like Baptism, a person’s vocation in life must be based on three actions: by reading the Bible and praying on what we have read; by participating at Mass on weekends, and by trying to live as Jesus wants us to live. These three actions are the very best way of choosing a vocation in life, and once you have accepted a way of life, of living your choice in happiness and joy. In a spiritual sense that choice began on the day of your Baptism.