Fr. JC Maximilian

[A picture I took in St. Paul's Outside the Walls, in Rome, 2007]
The readings from today’s Mass gives us a lesson in ancient Israelite history and geography. As you may remember from the Book of Exodus, when the Israelites entered into the Promise Land, after their 40 years in the desert, each tribe was given a particular section of the land to be their own. The tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali lived in the northern part of the Kingdom, by the sea.

Eight hundred years before Jesus, the Assyrians attacked the part of the Kingdom of Israel where the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali lived, and they were taken into captivity. That Assyrian attack marked the beginning of the end of the Kingdom of Israel. Two hundred years latter, the Babylonians would seize Jerusalem, and the rest of the tribes of Israel would be driven into exile.

In today’s first reading, the Prophet Isaiah assures the Israelites that God will never abandon them, and will save them from their captivity. Isaiah prophesied that since Zebulun and Naphtali were the first to be degraded, they would be the first to see the light of God’s salvation. In today’s Gospel reading, St. Matthew makes it clear that Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah; “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light….” The message of salvation that Jesus preached was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Pope Benedict XVI, in his book Jesus of Nazareth, declares what all serious scripture scholars say, that “The core content of the Gospel is this: The Kingdom of God is at hand” (p. 47). The basic statistics bare this out; the phrase “Kingdom of God” or “Kingdom of heaven” is mentioned 122 times in the New Testament, 99 times in just the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and 90 of these 99 times the phrase is spoke by Jesus Himself. Clearly a key to living an active, authentic Christian life is understanding and entering into the Kingdom of God. So what does this phrase mean?

The Catholic modernist heretic, Alfred Loisy, in noticing that the axis of Jesus’ preaching before Easter was the Kingdom of God, and that after Easter the preaching of the apostles became centered on the person of Jesus, sarcastically remarked that Jesus preached the Kingdom of God, and what came was the Church. His comments suggests that we have gotten away from the real preaching of Jesus. But have we?

In the fourth chapter of his book, Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict does a marvelous job in examining the different ways that theologians have tried to understand the phrase “the Kingdom of God,” and he notes that many of these different hypotheses are lacking or even does violence to the Scriptures. While I cannot cover all the points that the Holy Father makes in his book in one homily, it is important to hear his conclusion.

The Kingdom of God is not a thing or a place or merely an interior attitude. Rather, “Jesus himself is the Kingdom. . . . By the way in which he speaks of the Kingdom of God, Jesus leads men to realize the overwhelming fact that in him God himself is present among them, that he is God’s presence” (Joseph Ratzinger [Pope Benedict XVI], Jesus of Nazareth, New York: Doubleday, 2007, p. 49). The Pope continues, “When Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God, he is quite simply proclaiming God, and proclaiming him to be the living God, who is able to act concretely in the world and in history and is even now so acting” (p. 55).

What does all this mean for us, today? Through His parables, Jesus repeatedly invites people to enter into the Kingdom of God. Since He, Himself, is the Kingdom of God to enter into the Kingdom means that we need to enter into a relationship with Christ Jesus. Entering into the Kingdom of God demands a change in the way of life for those who believe in Jesus. When Jesus calls people to “Repent” He is not calling people merely to feel sorrow and remorse for doing wrong, for their sins. He is inviting people to radically rethink their life orientation; to turn away from the slavery of sin which leads to death, and towards Him, the Kingdom of God, which is the “great light” that leads to everlasting life.

Today’s Gospel reading then shows us examples of those who did hear Jesus’ call to repentance and left their old lives to follow Him. Peter, Andrew, James, and John left their boats and their previous way of life to become “fishers of men.” Do you honestly think that Peter, Andrew, James and John understood what it meant to be “fishers of men”? I don’t think they had a clue at the time Jesus first called them, but something so attracted them to Jesus that they knew that they wanted to follow Him and be His companions. They placed their faith in Jesus, and knew that He would not let them down; He would give them new Life, life to the full.

What attracts you to Jesus? Is entering into the Kingdom of God, the communion of the saints, the primary orientation of your life? The Scriptures make it clear that God is a jealous God who will not accept other gods in our lives. We need to ask ourselves, “Am I addicted to alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex or pornography? Am I a workaholic who fails to live up to my commitments to my family? Do I love and honor my spouse every day? Do I spend time with my children, and give them the time and good example they need? Do I seek justice in my professional and political life? Do I respect the dignity of all people, including the poor, the unemployed, the sick, and the elderly? Do I place Christ first in my life, and make a joyful gift of my time, talent and treasure to His Church, His Mystical Body, as made present in my parish?” If some of these questions leave you scratching your head, or feeling a bit guilty, then listen to the words of Jesus, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

["The Baptism of Christ" by Fra Angelico]

Most of us probably do not remember our own baptism, since we were most likely infants, but hopefully most of us have been to other baptisms. The baptism that we hear about in today’s Gospel reading was not like your usual Baptism. There were no crying infants, no nervous parents and godparents, no family members all vying for the best picture. No white, lace gown that belonged so someone’s great-grandfather. Instead of a font, the place of Baptism was a mud-choked river.

Of course the Baptism in today’s Gospel reading did have some extraordinary events. Like what was the deal with that dove, and what about that voice from the clouds? Because of these extraordinary events at Jesus’ Baptism, we might be tempted to look at our own Baptism as nothing remarkable; nothing out of the ordinary.

However, nothing could be farther from the truth. The same Holy Spirit that appeared at Jesus’ baptism came down upon us at ours. God said to each of us what He said then: “You are my beloved child in whom I am well pleased.” We are not by our nature God’s children. Oh, we are made in His image and likeness, but due to Original Sin we lost the privilege of being God’s children. Rather it is through the grace of the Sacrament of Baptism that we are incorporated into God’s family, we become His children, and the sisters and brothers of Jesus. In fact, through the grace of Baptism, we are incorporated into the Divine Life by our being anointed by the self-same Spirit who anointed Jesus at Galilee. God the Father gives us through our adoption at holy baptism the same gifts as Jesus received. Two of the greatest of these gifts we received through our baptism is that God holds us with loving hands, and we receive the power of the Holy Spirit.

Being held in the loving hands of God does not mean that we will always see prosperity, health, and safety in times of danger. This is the false image of God’s loving hands often sold to us by the television evangelists, “Convert to the Lord and you will be cured of cancer, and double your income!” We need to keep in mind that when we are baptized into the life of Jesus, we are also baptized into His death and resurrection.

The Prophet Isaiah knew what it means to be God’s favored one, as he writes in our first reading: “I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you and set you as a covenant of the people, a light to the nations.” To be held in the loving hands of God means to be given to the world. At our baptism the priest or deacon lit a small candle from the Paschal Candle and said as he gave it to our parent or godparent, “Receive the Light of Christ.” The parents and godparents are told that this light is entrusted to them to be kept burning brightly, so that the child who has been enlightened by Christ will continue to walk as a child of the light, the flame of faith burning brightly in their heart. Of course this light is not to be put under a bushel basket, rather it is to shine out brightly through us into the shadows of the WHOLE wounded world. There will be times when we will be like Jesus on the cross, feeling completely abandoned and forsaken. Our Calvary might be on the factory floor, around the water cooler in the office, on the hospital ward, but where ever our Calvary is by our baptism we are called to be the instrument through which people feel held by the loving hands of God. In order to be this, we must experience it. We must allow God to hold us in His loving hands.

The second gift that God gives us at our baptism is that the power of the Holy Spirit is poured upon us. Again listening to the words of Isaiah in today’s first reading, we see that this power is not meant to dominate or hurt. Rather the power of the Holy Spirit is to heal and set free. It is to bring forth justice, open the eyes of the blind so that they can see the Truth of Jesus Christ.

We need to ask ourselves how can each of us become more responsive to the graces we received at our baptism? Baptism is not something automatic, done once long ago like a vaccination. Baptism is suppose to be still happening, each time we are called to offer ourselves up for the lifting up of God’s people. Our hearts should mirror the forgiveness that we received at our baptism by being a source of God’s mercy to all those around us.

One of the more important Catholic, American writers of the 20th century was the southern lady, Flannery O’Connor. In one of her short stories, entitled “The River,” Bevel is the five-year-old son of uncaring, alcoholic parents. His babysitter takes Bevel to the river to be baptized by a traveling preacher. In this scene, O’Connor catches the human and redemptive promise given in baptism:

“Have you ever been baptized?” the preacher asked.
“What’s that?” [Bevel] murmured.
“If I baptize you,” the preacher said, “you’ll be able to go to the kingdom of Christ. You’ll be washed in the river of suffering, son, and you’ll go by the deep river of life. Do you want that?”
“Yes,” the child said, and thought, I won’t go back to the apartment then, I’ll go under the river. “You won’t be the same again,” the preacher said. “You’ll count.” He held him under while he said the words of baptism and then he jerked him up again and looked sternly at the gasping child.
Bevel’s eyes were dark and dilated. “You count now,” the preacher said. “You didn’t even count before!”

At each of our baptisms the preacher’s words were said to us, “You count now.” This “counting” is both a gift and a responsibility. The challenge of being people who “count” is to make our baptism a reality every day of our lives. God the Father said of Jesus on the day of His Baptism, what He says to us on the day of our Baptism, “This is my beloved, my chosen one with whom I am pleased.” We need to make sure we please God every day, by loving Him with our whole mind, our whole heart, and all our strength, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. After all, “we count now.”