Homily: Feast of the Baptism
of the Lord – Cycle C
As we have
celebrated the great feast of Christmas, each of us have probably received a
number of gifts from our loved ones.
This is part of the joy of Christmas, right? The joy of giving and receiving gifts and the
excitement that those new things bring to our lives. We love new things, don’t we? New gadgets, new cars, new clothes, etc. Nevertheless, if we think about it, all those
things that we think are “new” are simply variations of something old, aren’t
they? The new version of the iPhone isn’t
that much different from the previous one.
Cars don’t change that much from one year to the next (maybe a new electric
car is truly different). Clothing styles
don’t bring a radical newness to your wardrobe from one year to the next
(clothes are still just clothes, right?).
But what if
there was something that radically changed our lives? What if something happened that brought a
newness to our lives that we had never imagined: a newness that affected our
lives in a positive way forever? Wouldn’t
we want that?
The second
reading today reminds us that something has
happened. Saint Paul wrote to Saint Titus
(one of the first bishops on the island of Crete): “[God] saved us
through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, which he richly
poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior.” Saint
Paul is talking about baptism here: the same baptism that you and I
received. Let’s recall, therefore, that baptism
does 3 things: 1) It
frees us from Original Sin. Original Sin
means that we are born in a state of non-friendship with God. Baptism, in freeing us from Original Sin,
restores us to that friendship. 2) If
we’ve committed any personal sins, God forgives those through baptism (again,
as part of restoring our friendship with God).
3) We become members of the Catholic Church and are able to receive the
other sacraments.
This means
that, through baptism, we are a new creation: we are in a new relationship with
God. What kind of relationship? The gospel we just read tells us. After Jesus is baptized, the heavens open and
God the Father says to him: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well
pleased.” These
words are addressed to all those who have been baptized: “You are my beloved
son… You are my beloved daughter.” God’s
name for us is “Beloved”, which is another sign that baptism makes us a new creation. Through it, we are given a new life and, thus,
a new relationship with God that gives new meaning to every moment of our
lives. ///
There’s a
story in the Acts of the Apostles that underlines the gift of baptism. In chapter 9, the Apostle Philip
meets an official from Ethiopia who has been visiting Jerusalem. The official asks Philip to explain a passage
from the Bible to him, and Philip complies.
In fact, Philip tells him
about Jesus Christ and the new life he came to bring us. This has a remarkable effect on the
Ethiopian official. He wants to learn
more. He wants to know how he can enter
into this new life. And Philip tells him
that baptism is what brings this new life.
Most of us
are baptized as babies, and we don’t realize what’s happening. But if we were aware of the tremendous gift we
receive through baptism, our response would probably be similar to the Ethiopian
official’s. Upon hearing this good news
of new life through baptism, he says to Philip, “Look, there is some water by the side of
the road. What is to prevent me from
being baptized right now?” In other
words, having heard of the radical newness that baptism can bring to his life,
he says, “I want this!” Philip does not
delay. He baptizes him, and the Bible
tells us that the man went on his way rejoicing. And
who wouldn’t rejoice about receiving this friendship with God? Through our baptism, we enter a new and
intimate relationship with God. He becomes
part of our story, and we become part of his. We are given new life. ///
In his Myth
of the Cave, the Greek philosopher Plato speaks about people living in a cave:
their only contact with the world outside is through shadows of things
happening outside of the cave that are projected on the wall in front of them. They only know the shadows, however, and so they
believe that the shadows are reality (instead of the real people/things that
are causing the shadows). Sometimes we can
be like that, can’t we? We’re busy,
we’re tired, and we’re anxious and worried about many things. Instead of living in the reality of the
vibrant life of the Spirit that is in us, we live as if the shadows of the
passing things of this world are the only reality there is.
Do we really want to live like that—in a
world of passing shadows—or do we want real newness? In order to live in real newness, we have to
allow God to open our eyes. When we do,
we recognize what has already been given to us: the powerful reality of being a
son/daughter of God and the power of the Spirit living in us through baptism. And so, how
can we recall this in our everyday life so as to live it fully? One excellent (and very simple) way is to
make the Sign of the Cross.
Remember the
words of baptism: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit.” The priest says
those words as he’s pouring water over the person’s head. This simple ritual effects the powerful
reality of cleansing us from sin, indelibly marking us as a son/daughter of
God, and (literally) drowning us in the power of the Holy Spirit. This
means that every time we make the Sign of the Cross and say the words “In the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”, we’re recalling
our baptism and the radical newness that it manifested in our lives. In other words, the Sign of the
Cross is like a song that reminds us of a special event or moment in our lives.
Every time we hear that song, we relive
the moment as if it was happening again for the first time.
So let’s
begin in the Mass today. At the end of the Mass, I will bless you, and you will
make the Sign of the Cross. Let’s do it
intentionally. Let’s remember our
baptism, the gift of a living relationship with God, who is near us. Then, let us seek moments during each
day to make the Sign of the Cross. It
will help keep our baptism fresh in our minds and our hearts so that we may
live in the power of the Spirit throughout our lives. Thus, we will give witness to this radical newness
so that others in search of such newness might be drawn to the waters of
baptism and receive the fullness of this grace through God’s mercy.
In fact, let’s begin now as we pray for
God’s power to manifest itself in us: In the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen!
Given in Spanish
at St. Paul Parish: Marion, IN – January 8th, 2022
Given in Spanish
at St. Joseph Parish: Delphi, IN – January 9th, 2022
Given in Spanish
at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish: Carmel, IN – January 9th, 2022
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