Fr. JC Maximilian

["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.”