For one last time: Merry Christmas to all of you. With today's celebration of the Baptism of the Lord we come to the conclusion of the Christmas season. This feast is the perfect hinge to move away from this season because with Christ's baptism in the Jordan He was sent forth into His public ministry which would culminate with His eventual death and Resurrection. With our own knowledge of the Sacrament of Baptism this feast should seem rather odd to us. We know that this sacrament washes away any sin that is present upon the soul especially that of original sin. The confusion, therefore, should come about because Christ never fell into sin nor did He inherit original sin upon his soul. Therefore, today we should stand in shock with Saint John the Baptist who exclaimed in our Gospel: "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?" Despite this shock Saint John the Baptist allowed Him to be baptized in order "to fulfill all righteousness."
Thorough Christ's baptism in the Jordan we are being led towards the wood of the cross. In the waters of baptism Christ did not take on sin so that it could be washed away, but instead shows His solidarity with the sinful. He joined us to the point where He would eventually become the sacrificial lamb who would be offered upon the wood of the cross in atonement for our sins. Through His baptism we are being shown that we must also be baptized and that once we enter into this wonderful exchange we must continue to embrace the cross to purge ourselves of sin and to truly begin to long for the Kingdom of Heaven. With the cross removed from our lives we will always be led into the slavery of self instead of the true freedom that springs forth when we allow ourselves to truly begin to love as is modeled to us by Christ. Christ prevails Himself to the mercy of Saint the John the Baptist that He be admitted to the waters of baptism. We to should prevail ourselves to the mercy of Christ with a spirit of conversion that we may return to the innocence of that wonderful day when we entered into these life giving waters.
In the words of Saint Augustine: "There are three ways in which sins are forgiven: in baptism, in prayer, and in the greater humility of penance; yet God does not forgive sins except to the baptized." With these words we can see that baptism is important to our life of faith. If we are the parents or guardians of a child we must take care that they are baptized as quickly as possible. This Sacrament is not some mere family ritual, but instead is a life changing reality for all those who have entered into its waters. It is the parents of a child who accepts the weight of the obligation to raise them inside of the faith. It is the godparents, usually chosen due to family or ties of friendship, who also agree to raise the child in the faith by the example of their life. This does not mean, therefore, that a parent or godparent can easily enter into this obligation because they have pledged themselves to almighty God to raise their child in the faith which is the Catholic faith as was handed down to us by the apostles as expressed in its fullness.
Through the humility that we encounter at Christ's baptism we receive the message that we to must always humble ourselves to Christ's infinite mercy by putting our sin to death. Going back to Saint Augustine we must trust in prayer and penance if we are to truly have this desire to humble ourselves to the mercy of Christ and thus to put our sin to death. Without an authentic relationship with God through prayer we will always remain lost as we wonder about the world. Through prayer we will develop an authentic relationship with God which will strengthen us against our temptation towards sin and will also allow us to be made open to Christ's mercy to the point where our venial sins are forgiven. For those moments where we fail to prevail ourselves to the love of God and submit to the weight of mortal sin we as Catholics must remember the need to humble ourselves to God through the Sacrament of Confession. These two realities are not something that is optional, but are necessary for all of us to return to the innocence of the moment of our baptisms.
Christ humbled himself inside of these life giving waters as he would humble Himself upon the cross. We to should return to this baptism of repentance to find our own need to humble ourselves to God's infinite mercy. As we conclude this Christmas season and move into Ordinary Time Christ leaves the manger behind, is revealed to us as God at His baptism, and sets off into His public ministry. We to should leave the comforts of our life behind, especially that of sin, and respond to our baptism by our life. This is played out each day in our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ and our ability to see Christ who dwells within them and to in return respond to this reality with our lives. As we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord on this day may we continue to strive to live up to what was begun in us through our baptism.
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