The Baptism of the Lord (C); 01-09-2022

Is 40:1-11.  Ps 29.  Ti 2:11-14; 3:4-7.  Lk 3:15-22

Deacon Jim McFadden

            Let’s begin the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord with a short quiz: first, an easy one: what’s your birthday?   I presume that nearly all of you got that one right!   Second, a more challenging one: what is the date of your baptism?  Uh, I fear that the percentage of correct answers may have dropped precipitously.

When you consider that Pope Francis regards the day of his baptism as the most important day of life, that should obtain for all of us as well.  But, if we don’t remember  the most important date of our life, what’s up with that?!

            To begin with, Baptism is the most basic Sacrament of the Church as it is the door to the spiritual Catholic life.  One of the earliest descriptions of Baptism was promulgated at the Council of Florence (1314), which described it as “the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to the life in the Spirit” (vitae spiritualis ianua).  Baptism is the way in; it’s the foundation; it’s the precondition for an authentically spiritual life.  To appreciate Baptism is to understand what is fundamentally distinct about Catholic Christianity.  Our religion is not primarily about doctrines, though those are very important as witnessed by  our Tradition contained in the Catechism.  Nor is it about becoming a good person or doing the right thing.  A virtuous life is not the exclusive domain of Christians as we witness good and holy people in other religions such as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.  Don’t get me wrong: if one is striving to be authentically Christian, then they will become a good person.  But, that’s not what is distinctive to Christianity.

            Then what is it?  To be a Christian is to be in right relationship with God and our neighbor.  That begins to happen when we are grafted onto Christ and, in so doing, to enter into the very dynamics of the inner life of the Trinity.  Doing good things, being a moral person—great, but they will flow from being joined to the Lord.

            As Christians, we don’t talk about following Jesus or imitating him as important as those are.  Rather, we speak of being initiated into Christ’s very being—of being a member of his mystical Body, the Church and therefore, we share in the same relationship that he has with his Father.  You see, the Church is not essentially an institution, though that is one of the models that the Church exhibits.  Rather, the Church essentially is a living organism in which as St. Paul notes,  Christ is “…the head of the body, the church” (Col 1:18a).  Earlier Paul proclaimed in his first Letter to the Corinthians that “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ” (12:12).  Several centuries later, St. Augustine would reaffirm and amplified Paul’s assertion that the Church is a spiritual extension of Christ’s body.  Continuing in this vein, St. Joan of Arc at her trial said, “One thing I know for certain is that the Risen Christ and the Church are one and the same.”

            When we are initiated into the mystical Body of Christ at Baptism, we are radically configured.  This is what is so decisive about Christianity: Jesus is the Son of God by nature: “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1).  We become via Baptism the sons or daughters of God by adaption.  That’s why it’s important to say that we’re baptized “in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.”  Indeed, without that Trinitarian formula, the action is not valid.

            So, Baptism  is necessarily tied to the Trinity.  Why’s that?  Baptism draws us into the relationship between the Father and the Son.  We become sons and daughters of the Father through our relationship with Jesus: when we “move, live, and have our being” in Christ Jesus, we are participating in Trinitarian life which conforms us to God.  All of this happens through the Holy Spirit, who is the “Lord and giver of life.”

            Baptism, in a word brothers and sisters, is all about grace.  It’s about the breakthrough of the divine life.  It’s about our incorporation through the power of God’s love into God’s very life.  Do you see why this is much more intriguing than just being a nice person?  To be sure, I want you to be a good person, I don’t want you to cut people off in traffic, be rude to flight attendants, or refuse to wear your mask when asked to do so.   But, becoming a member of the Body of Christ is so much more intriguing, exciting, challenging, and puzzling  than any other aspiration.  Through Baptism we’ve been grafted onto Christ and, therefore, we share in the very life of God.  How GOOD is that!

            Let us conclude by looking at Jesus’ baptism in which we hear, “This is my beloved Son of whom I am well pleased” (Lk 3:22).  Baptized, you have been grafted onto Christ as a branch onto the Vine.  You are a beloved son or daughter of the Father IN that beloved Son.  Therefore, every baptized person should hear the same words, the same voice: “You are my beloved son, you are my beloved daughter whom I am well pleased.” That’s the deepest truth of Baptism. Amen.