In my 16-1/2 years as a deacon at two Catholic churches in the Diocese of Orange, California, I have baptized nearly 1,000 children under the age of seven years old, including one granddaughter and one great granddaughter. For me, it is the most joyous, communal Sacrament for three reasons:
- It marks the beginning of a person’s spiritual relationship with God;
- It is the official beginning of one’s membership into the Catholic Church; and
- Usually everyone in attendance has a smile on his or her face as I baptize a child with water from the River Jordan.
Since my religious pilgrimage to Israel in October of 2015, I have a deeper appreciation of Jesus’ Baptism by his cousin, St. John the Baptist, in the Jordan. Maybe it was because I entered into the cool water up to my neck imagining I was one of many people being baptized along with the “Lamb of God” and hearing God the Father’s words about His love for His Son. But what really moved me was the quiet of that moment marked as the official waters where Jesus was baptized.
Scripture tells us that the sinless Jesus chose to be baptized as a way of announcing the beginning of His public ministry, not because He needed to repent. His message is that His human life will be dedicated on our behalf because He is Flesh of our flesh to illustrate His solidarity with us.
His Baptism confirms for us His faithfulness and love in obedience to the will of God, His Father. In the next three years of His life on earth He will bring forgiveness for our sins by His death on a cross and provide a promise of everlasting life for all who are faithful.
For us, this is also a time for us to reflect on our own Baptism. Granted, most are baptized as children, but it’s not about when the ceremony took place, but about what has happened in our lives since that time. Baptism is both a calling and a commitment to a promise we made or was made on our behalf. Our purpose is to fulfill the reason, for which God created us; to love Him and all that He created as Jesus loves us.
The reminder for us is that our Baptism was a communal Sacrament which not only our family and friends witnessed, but is expected to begin our lifelong journey with God. As committed believers, we are to think, say and act in concert with God as Jesus taught us when He lived on earth and which has been passed down through scripture.
In essence, we are to become and be the living Gospel as Jesus was while on earth by using the spirituality we received from the Holy Spirit who was present at our Baptism and is with us throughout our life. This is reinforced by the Prophet Isaiah who writes in the first reading today that we are to “give comfort” to all who are in need. St. Paul in his Letter to Titus writes that we are “to live temperately, justly and devoutly.” Both are ways to be the Body of Christ as members of the Catholic Church.
Let us take this time to renew our commitment and promise to follow Jesus in His new covenant of love for God and all who He created. By doing so, our Baptism will become the new life of spirituality we can rely on in both our own journey to everlasting life and for all those we touch with God’s blessing. And who knows, it may bring a lot of smiles to all we help in God’s name.
Reading 1: Isaiah 40: 1-5, 9-11
Reading 2: Titus 2: 11-14; 3: 4-7
Gospel: Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22
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