Homily
for January 11, 2009
Liturgical Year B - Cycle I
Baptism of the Lord
By Fr. Joshua Nioni Topic:
Baptism of the Lord
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Gospel
Mark
1:7 - 11 This is what John
the Baptist proclaimed: “One mightier than
I is coming after me. I am not worthy to
stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized
you with water; he will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit.”
It
happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and
was baptized in the Jordan by John. On
coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and
the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And
a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved
Son; with you I am well pleased.”
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Today
we are celebrating the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we do that,
I invite you to reflect on our own baptism, when we were preparing to
be baptized.
We
can imagine Jesus joining the queue of sinners to be baptized by John
the Baptist. Of course, we all know that John’s baptism was one of
repentance from sin. It was for the forgiveness of sins. Yet our Lord
had no sins. Why was He baptized? We would ask. “Did He really need or
have to be baptized? Or was it all a pretense?”
Even
John had question marks. John tried to dissuade Him. We remember him
saying, “It is I who need baptism from you, and yet you come to me.”
Jesus’ reply was, “Leave it like this for the time being. Do all that
which righteousness demands.” And Jesus was baptized. But why?
For a sinful people, for sinners, we would say, John’s baptism made
much sense but for a sinless Lord, like our Lord Jesus, it made no
sense. Yet, Jesus was baptized. But why? What is the point?
Our
Lord Jesus was baptized for us, for our example, as a model for us.
Mainly, so as to underline the importance of repentance, turning
towards God, moving in the direction of and going towards God, because
many at that time had left, had put their backs on God. By bowing to
baptism, Jesus was really backing John the Baptist. He was bearing
testimony to the message of John. He was reinforcing John’s call to
conversion, affirming the need for a real change of heart. As He was
doing that, affirming the message of John, we also realize that Jesus
Himself was simultaneously confirming the converted, that they may
intensify their turning towards God. In fact, I think for John, Jesus
was saying, “You are doing the right thing. You are on the right path.
Go on.”
You know very well that children grow and mature better when they are
affirmed than when you negate them. When you affirm, they grow up
properly and this is what we see. Jesus is saying to John, “What you
are doing is what God wants. Go ahead.”
Secondly,
by being baptized by John, I would also say that Jesus made a mighty
act of identification. He was in solidarity with sinful humanity, in
their weakness, humility, and need. In fact, Jesus was saying, “I am
here with you and for you. I am one of you. I am on your side.” It is
in that where we see also that this Theology of the Incarnation, God
becoming man, Jesus identifying Himself with us so that He can save us.
In doing that, what do we see? In that very act of Jesus closely
identifying Himself with us, He took on Himself our own sins, and
destroyed them. That’s where He did His salvation. That’s where He
worked salvation. In identifying Himself with us, He took upon Himself
our own sins and destroyed them. The Letter to the Romans says this
beautifully. “God sent his son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin
offering, thereby condemning sin in the flesh.”(Romans 8:3) The Letter
of I Peter says, “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His
mouth. When He was insulted, He returned no insult. When He suffered,
He did not threaten. Instead, He handed Himself over to the one who
judges justly. He himself bore our sins in His body upon the cross.”
Paul, in writing to the Corinthians (II Corinthians 5:21) he says, “For
our sake, He made Him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him.”
In
baptism, we are united to Christ so that we can be on a mission and
that mission is the mission of Christ. Christ identified Himself with
us so that He could save us. He wanted to work salvation from within.
Like Christ, we should not and cannot stand apart. We share a
responsibility.
Now, Christ identified Himself with us so that He could remove us from
where we are and bring us to the light. This is His method of
evangelization, now, and he invites us to do the same, to identify
ourselves with others.
As
we do that, let us not get lost. Christ never got lost. He always knew
where He was coming from, and we should keep that in our own minds.
When we think about our own baptism, for instance, the time when we are
preparing for it, remember those days. How holy were you? Very, very
holy, right? But now, what has happened? Yes.
This
is the invitation. As we meditate on the mystery of the Baptism of Our
Lord, we need to remember our own baptism, to be true to that baptism.
Be true to your own baptism. Of course, we heard the Gospel, the very
words coming from God, “You are my beloved son. My favor rests on you.”
I have a question for each of us here. Does God’s favor still rest on
each one of us today, here and now? Or no? I still ask myself that
question. You can continue asking yourself as well.