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Home , Baptism of Jesus

HOM of B 2021 Jan 10

By the time of , a rite of baptism or ritual immersion had already developed in the practice of the Jewish faith. Sometime after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC, it began to be used for spiritual purification prior to worship i.e. prior to making a sacrificial offering. It was practiced particularly among a group of Jews called Essenes.

So, it was not strange that in heralding the presence of the long-awaited Messiah – and preparing people to receive and welcome Him -- John the Baptist went about calling his fellow Jews to a baptism of repentance. He said that he baptized with water only for the sake of reform, that is, as a sign of a person’s intention to keep ’s commandments – to do the will of God.

John also said that the one who would come after him, namely , would baptize with the to empower the baptized person with the grace to do the will of God.

When Jesus came on the scene at the beginning of His public ministry, the first action He took was to have John baptize Him. This action had a four-fold purpose. First, it affirmed John’s ministry and made a statement that Jesus – the Messiah, the Anointed One, the – had come to do the will of God in solidarity with all the others who were baptized by John.

Secondly, it established a new Baptism – not just symbolic with water but also empowering – -- with the Holy Spirit – to enable the baptized person to do the will of God in communion with the Messiah – the Anointed One. Its as though the waters, which washed over Jesus as He was immersed in the River and then rose baptized, were made holy and present in the blessed waters of the of Baptism so that the baptized person is washed clean of – original and personal sin – as he or she is anointed and empowered with the grace of the Holy Spirit and thus, united to Jesus, the Anointed One.

The third purpose of Jesus’ baptism is that it provided an occasion for Jesus to be made known publicly, not only as the Messiah – the Anointed One – the Christ – but also as the . In today’s account we heard that on coming up out of the water, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended on Jesus. A voice then came from the heavens; “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”

And the fourth purpose of the Baptism of Jesus, as Son of Man, is that it expressed by example, the need for all men and women to be baptized. Jesus Himself would explicitly teach this on several occasions. Once when He told the Jewish leader, Nicodemus, that no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit (John 3: 5), and also when at His Ascension into Heaven He told His apostles: Go into the whole world and proclaim to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned (: 15).

The reason that baptism is necessary for salvation becomes clear when we recall Jesus’ earlier words to His apostles: I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.(John 14: 6) By being united to Jesus in the grace of the Holy Spirit through Baptism and empowered – anointed -- to do God’s will with Him – or not knowing Jesus, but being united to Him at least by a desire to know and do God’s will -- that person then becomes entitled to an eternal inheritance with Jesus that awaits him or her in heaven in the Father’s House. That inheritance is a share in Jesus’ divine glory.

But obtaining that inheritance is conditional. It can be lost by grave sin if this sin is not repented of. But if lost, it can also be restored in the Sacrament of Reconciliation or the if a person is repentant but physically or mentally unable to confess their .

Also, even if united to Jesus, that eternal inheritance cannot be awarded until the person is also conformed to Jesus in His oblation to the Father’s will, the acceptable sacrifice, pleasing worship. And Holy Communion is the sacrament that perfects a person’s oneness with Jesus in this way as the person learns to offer himself or herself reciprocally to Jesus and with Him to the Father unto the Cross for the salvation of all so that we, too, can be made well-pleasing to the Father.

Our times provide a great opportunity for this. Not only does every baptized person now have the opportunity to offer themselves to and with Jesus for the sanctification and salvation of their political adversaries, but we will soon, I believe, have the opportunity to offer ourselves to and with Jesus for those who will persecute people who live and speak the truth with love and courage as Jesus did. Remember, Jesus was crucified for this and said that His followers would likewise be treated, and so, it may soon be the case that any and all who live and speak the truth with love and courage in His name will be targets of persecution.

But this can bring our Baptismal oneness with Jesus to perfection and make it fruitful. Just as the grace Jesus poured out to those who caused His crucifixion enabled the willing among them to be saved, so will the grace we communicate to others – to those outside or estranged from the – to those we love and those we dislike and even those we do not personally know – to all those for whom we offer ourselves -- enable them to seek oneness with and conformity to Jesus by way of the sacraments. It is our Baptismal calling to do this.

Therefore, I again invite you to join me in a making or renewing a Eucharistic Self-Offering by praying these words silently and sincerely at Holy Communion: I AM ALL YOURS O MOST LOVING JESUS THROUGH MARY YOUR MOTHER.