(See the readings for the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph)
“Allow it for now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” Jesus tells John the Baptist after he asks: “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus’ words point forward to the time when mankind will be reconciled with God. He is pointing ahead to the time of His death where that reconciliation will be accomplished.
This Sunday we celebrate the feast of Jesus’ baptism. He is baptized in the waters of the Jordan by John. His is a baptism that foreshadows our baptism which is a union with Him in His death. Our union with Him allows us to share in the saving effects of His passion and death. That union makes us adopted children of God who are promised a share in divine life which is now instilled in us.
The words of our heavenly Father at Jesus’ baptism point to His divine sonship: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” It is a sonship Jesus is pleased to share with us through baptism.
The first reading is from the prophet Isaiah. Here the Lord, speaking through the prophet, says: “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit.” It is this servant who will “bring for justice to the nations.”
The prophet then goes on to describe the quiet, gentle way in which he will accomplish his mission – “not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street.”
The Lord appoints Isaiah as a “covenant for the people” and “a light to the nations.” His mission will be “to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”
In the public ministry of Jesus, we see all these accomplished but it is in the paschal mystery of His passion, death and resurrection that all is fulfilled. Mankind, who dwelt in the shadows of sin and death and prisoners to sin, is freed from those bonds and can walk in the light of life. Baptism is the means by which we share in the saving mission of Christ and its effects.
The second reading is from Acts 10. The reading recalls Peter’s speech in the house of Cornelius. Here he acclaims Jesus Christ who is “Lord of all.” He summarizes the ministry of Jesus as “beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
Though not recalled in this particular passage, Peter’s proclamation leads Cornelius and his household to share in the gift of life through baptism.
Celebrating the feast of our Lord’s baptism we have the opportunity to reflect on our own baptism and to give thanks to God for the gift of life we have through it. Thanksgiving is an offering we make that expresses gratitude and appreciation while we acknowledge the graciousness of His love.
Life and love are not something earned, they are given; not something we take but we receive. The simple act of thanksgiving expresses all these as one. Our thanksgiving is expressed in words but also in the manner of our lives.
In this respect perhaps we can listen to the words of the Father at the Transfiguration: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17:5 cf. Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35).
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Msgr. Joseph Prior is pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Penndel and a former professor of Sacred Scripture and rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. Read more reflections by Msgr. Prior here.
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