Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today we celebrate the gospel of the Baptism of the Lord that ends the Christmas Season. It is a wonderful gospel that we receive and it shows us that Christ overcame death which is embodied in what we hear today. The gospel ends with the heavens being opened, the Holy Spirit descends under the appearance of a dove and a voice from heaven says. “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
There is another gospel that has where the heavens open up and we hear nearly the same words. It is the gospel of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor where Jesus led three apostles to a very high mountain. Today the gospel is located at the lowest point below sea level, about 1200 feet below. The Jordan River and the Dead Sea are both located at this level and at both places this voice is heard saying, ‘This is my Beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’ Christ is the son of God and is God, the one who has come into the world to help us as we just celebrated this Christmas.
There is a psalm that says, “If I go up to the sky, he is there, if I descend into hell, I will find him there.’ This psalm foreshadows these two gospels. In today’s word the lowest point is where John the Baptist carried out his baptism of conversion. Jesus Christ does not need to convert from anything, but he unites himself to the sinners at this lowest point on earth, which hints at his death on the cross that was the lowest humiliation possible. There on the cross he will unite himself to our sufferings and carries our sins for us.
We also see is this gospel that Jesus puts himself in the line to be baptized by John together with all the sinners. Today the Lord stands with us as we enter the waters of baptism in the Jordan River. Baptism is something marvelous and it is important to know the date when we were baptized in order to celebrate it because that is the date of our birth as Christians. There is a specific moment in the Baptism when the water was poured on our head three times, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. But baptism is something much deeper that this; it is an encounter with someone, a specific person, with Jesus Christ.
Many people have devotions to the Virgin Mary and the saints which is all very good and to say a novena to that saint is very helpful. But in baptism we meet a person face to face and he is Jesus Christ which is why we can call ourselves Christian. Jesus Christ is the mercy of the Father, He is the love of the Father because God is love, an infinite love, a never-ending love. He has done something wonderful by sending his Son, his beloved Son, his favored Son and is very pleased that he is going to a place where there are sinners. This is what the Father wants, and it is what the Son wants, and what the Holy Spirit wants. The Trinity is present at the baptism of Jesus Christ. Therefore, do not be afraid because today the Lord finds himself at the lowest point of the earth, in hell, you can say. As the psalm above said that he goes down to hell to find you, he goes into the flames, descends to the lowest point, brothers and sisters. He lowers himself, makes himself nothing in order to save you, to get you and me out of the hell we are in because of our sins, our disobedience, for who we are.
Do not worry about your sins; we should be worried more if we lack the certainty of the love of God in our life. Do not worry about our sins because we are very little, we are nothing. Sin hurts us, puts us down but it is Christ who lifts us up and this encourages us and shows us his marvelous love and mercy. He never tires of forgiving us. I get tired of forgiving, and I think that the same thing happens to God, but he never tires of forgiving. You can confess to him twenty times a day and you will receive his forgiveness. This is why baptism is so wonderful and makes it possible for us to experience God’s love and forgiveness in our lives.
John says I baptize you with water but he who comes after me is stronger than me. Christ is stronger than any man. Christ has power today; the gospel has power today and reminds us that the Lord has power over what destroys us, over our weaknesses and temptations. With Christ we can overcome them. Christ conquers death and everything that destroys us.
Baptism is an encounter with Christ; it’s to experience his death and resurrection. The early Christians symbolized it very well by the three immersions in the baptismal pool. The person would be dunked in the name of the Father and then come up, and dunked again in the name of the Son, and dunked again in the name of the Holy Spirit and a new man, a new woman, came out of the pool. One was submerged in the waters of death and then leaves victorious. We do not die; we are resurrected with Christ. This was a very strong symbolic sign in the early Christians. Now the priest may pour water on the dead but the baptism by immersion symbolizes much more the character of this great sacrament.
Baptism is to enter with Christ into death and experience life; this is the meaning of baptism. Baptism is for those who are in a situation of death, they can truly have an experience of baptism. Those who are poor, who live in darkness, a great light has shone for them said a recent reading during Christmas. A big light, not a weak light, a great light shines in our midst and that light is the love of God. I hope that you feel loved by the Lord today.
The baptism of Jesus Christ is a baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. What does this mean? The Spirit has a single mission, practically speaking only one mission in us which St. Paul says that no one can say Christ is the Lord if not for the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Lord leads us to say, ‘We have experienced in our lives that Christ is the Lord.’ He is the Lord of my life, of my passions, Lord of my selfishness, of my pride, Lord of all my sicknesses and above all my sins. He is the Lord of my greed, Lord of my disordered sexuality, Lord of my life. This is a baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire. Fire is used when you want to make a seal or a brand that cannot be removed. Like when cattle are branded it is forever marked by its owner. The baptism of Christ is forever, forever! That is to say that the experience that Christ is my Lord is always our experience, always.
Let us rejoice on this day because Jesus Christ in his great humility will unite himself to us, will be looking for us no matter where we have gone and will raise us up and bring us to heaven with him.