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Baptism of Our Lord Year A

Today we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord. This brings to an end the season of

Christmas. The Church remembers in this feast that Jesus is the Son of God. When

Jesus was baptized in the Jordan there was a special manifestation in which He was

revealed as who He is: the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.

Still, we can always ask ourselves why would Jesus allow Himself to be baptized

by John the Baptist and what practical applications might we make in our own

lives.

We have to keep in mind that the Baptism of John was a baptism of conversion, of

repentance. Johns mission was to prepare the way to the Lord. He was appealing

to personal conversion as a way to open the hearts of the people to the good news

that Jesus would come to bring. The water of Johns baptism was a symbol of the

need to wash away all impurities, to change, to repent, to set aside all bad attitudes

to be able to receive the message of goodness and love of God. But Jesus Christ

was the sinless one. He became one of us except in one thing: sin. Jesus had no

need of conversion and repentance. So, why did Jesus allow Himself to be

baptized?

The reason has to do with the mission of love that He came to accomplish. God

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became man to save us from our miseries and sin. In His love for us He wanted to

experience the sufferings that we brought upon ourselves. He couldnt experience

sin; in fact, He came to save us from sin. But He wanted to experience the

consequences of sin. He wanted to lower Himself to our level to the point of

identifying Himself with the very people He came to save. He wanted to cry out of

sadness for the death of a friend, He wanted to experience the weariness of a full

day of work, He wanted to feel hungry and thirsty and He wanted to experience the

pain and agony of death. In short, He loved us so much that He wanted to share our

fate, even if He had not been responsible for it. But He didnt stop there. His

greatest act of love was to suffer all our miseries and to share our destiny in the

midst of rejection and scorn. His love for us is unconditional. He doesnt wait for

us to correspond in the same way. He gives without expecting anything in return.

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. At Calvary,

Jesus takes the sin of the world upon Himself. In a similar way, as He immerses

Himself in the waters of the Jordan, the sinless one takes upon Himself the sins of

humanity. Through His baptism, Jesus announces to the world that His public

ministry has begun. In His humanity, He freely chooses to complete this mission

and makes a free decision: He will carry out the Fathers will to its ultimate

consequence.

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His baptism is a sign of His mission: to humbly obey the will of His Father, no

matter how unreasonable, no matter how illogical, no matter how difficult, no

matter what the consequences. And the greatest consequence is that Jesus, the

innocent one, died like a criminal in a supreme act of love for all those He came to

save.

We should learn a lot from Our Lord Jesus Christ. The humility of Jesus contrasts

with our pride when we should admit our own faults. We all know that it is

difficult to admit our mistakes. Admitting them requires humility and then it

requires repentance and conversion. If we are really humble we will put all our

efforts into trying to change and to amend our lives. But as time goes by we just

get used to the way we are. We think to ourselves: why change, when we have

tried so many times? It is easier to justify ourselves and blame others for our

behavior. We would be much better if we were in other circumstances. We reacted

the way we did because we were provoked. We cant resist temptation because it

was too strong. Why shouldnt we do something when everybody does it anyway?

Why shouldnt we look for an easier life after all we have done for God and

others? We find all kinds of excuses to blame others for our faults. We justify

following our will very quickly and we easily forget to follow Gods will when it

becomes too difficult.

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God loves those who are humble, those who feel weak and needy. God doesnt

help the proud because the proud dont feel they need any help. If we admitted our

own need to change we would find so much peace! None of us is perfectly happy

the way we are. Deep inside we know we want to be better. We would all love one

another if all of us admitted our own faults and if we had the willingness to

improve and change.

To be humble we have to try to listen to Gods will. Only those who are humble

and feel the need for Gods help are the ones who listen intently to Gods will. And

when we listen to His will we also find the purpose to our life. In todays culture,

many people, even those who are baptized Christians, have great difficulty with

their own identity. Many people wonder what their purpose is in this life. People

find little or no meaning as they carry out their daily activities. A cloud of laziness

hangs over many people as they also strive to find direction for their lives. Todays

feast shows us that Jesus gives us meaning, purpose and direction. It is through the

sacrament of baptism that we become His disciples. Jesus is the way, the truth and

the life, and it is precisely in Jesus that our human existence finds fulfillment.

We dont know what to do or how to behave? Simple: just be a good disciple of

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Jesus. Imitate the good Master. Be like Him. Let us humbly admit our faults and

lets start learning from the good, gentle and meek Jesus. In the waters of our own

baptism we were given the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us. Let us ask the Holy

Spirit to fill our hearts with the fire of His love and to help us follow Gods will

despite the difficulties.