January 9th 2022.  The Baptism of Our Lord

GOSPEL Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

 

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

 

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GOSPEL Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

The people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying,
"I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."
After all the people had been baptized
and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying,
heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him
in bodily form like a dove.
And a voice came from heaven,
"You are my beloved Son;
with you I am well pleased."

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

SUMMARY OF HOMILY

1. Jesus is “mightier” than John because he is the beloved Son of the Father. We too can be even greater than John if we live as beloved children of God

Luke’s Gospel presents the baptism of Jesus as occurring during a moment of prayer. John’s baptism is one of conversion in preparation for the Messiah, but the one who is coming, the “stronger one”, will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Who is this stronger one? After the baptism, while Jesus is praying, the heavens are opened. This is the stronger one, the one who can open the heavens. The image of the Holy Spirit descending evokes the moment of creation, and, indeed, this is the new creation. Then a voice comes from heaven, “You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”. The stronger one, thus, is the one who knows the Father. Later, Jesus will say that John is the greatest among men, but the least in the Kingdom is still greater. John represents the Old Testament, the fidelity to the covenant, but we are greater than him if we live as children of the Father. In every single act that he does, Jesus demonstrates that he is the beloved Son. This is the key to baptism. We are adopted sons in Christ, because he is the beloved Son. We are not children of God in some independent sense, but because we are beloved in Christ.

 

2. We seek autonomy, life on our own terms. But the Father is the origin of our life, and we have life only because he loves us.

It is evident when a person is loved. We see it in how they reason, how they speak, how they behave. Equally, when a person is not loved, it is also obvious. The person who knows they are loved possesses something that cannot be taken from them. Children that are loved grow up differently to those who are not. They do not feel they are being constantly examined. As St Paul says in Romans, there is no further condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. When we are loved, we are welcomed and forgiven, for love always involves pardon. I exist because another (the Lord) loves me, is happy that I exist. We cannot have life of ourselves. Only the Father, who generates the Son, exists of himself. Unfortunately we seek to live in a different manner. In recent centuries, humanity has affirmed its autonomous existence. The truth is that we are children of our creator, we only exist because we have been loved.

 

3. We think are lives are constructed on possessions and abilities, but it is the love of the Father that is the most profound truth of our existence.

It is significant that the public ministry of Jesus begins with this affirmation from the Father. In every act, he is the Son of the Father who loves him. Everything Jesus does is an act of gratitude and love towards the Father, right up to and including his crucifixion. We are inclined to think that our lives hold together when we have possessions or talents. No! Our lives hold together when we are aware that we are loved by God. When this voice of the Father that speaks to Christ becomes a voice in our heads, then we are able to put up with anything! When, through the action of the Holy Spirit who enters us and recreates us anew, we hear “You are my beloved child in whom I am well pleased!” then we will have discovered the most profound truth of our existence, that we are loved.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

At the time of John the Baptist, people were expecting the Messiah to come soon, but what happened at the baptism of Jesus took everyone by surprise. It was expected that the Messiah would be a righteous man who would call others back to a proper fulfilment of our duties before God. But what happens during the baptism is a stunning piece of divine revelation. The spirit hovers over Jesus and we hear the words of the Father, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”. At the beginning of Genesis, the Spirit hovered over the waters and brought forth creation. Now he hovers over the waters of the Jordan and the new Adam, the beloved Son, emerges. And this is crucial for the understanding of our own baptism. When we reflect on Jesus emerging from the water, we should imagine that each one of us emerges with him to hear the voice of the Father who delights in us. The tragedy of humanity is our distrust in the loving fatherhood of God. At baptism, the Holy Spirit comes upon us and seals our identity as beloved children of a tender Father. The real work of evangelisation is the task of communicating to people that God is a loving Father who delights in each one of us.