Baptism of Our Lord Year A

Today we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord. This brings to an end the season of Christmas. The Church remembers in this feast that Jesus is the Son of God. When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan there was a special manifestation in which He was revealed as who He is: the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Still, we can always ask ourselves why would Jesus allow Himself to be baptized by John the Baptist and what practical applications might we make in our own lives.

We have to keep in mind that the Baptism of John was a baptism of conversion, of repentance. Johns mission was to prepare the way to the Lord. He was appealing to personal conversion as a way to open the hearts of the people to the good news that Jesus would come to bring. The water of Johns baptism was a symbol of the need to wash away all impurities, to change, to repent, to set aside all bad attitudes to be able to receive the message of goodness and love of God. But Jesus Christ was the sinless one. He became one of us except in one thing: sin. Jesus had no need of conversion and repentance. So, why did Jesus allow Himself to be baptized?

The reason has to do with the mission of love that He came to accomplish. God

became man to save us from our miseries and sin. In His love for us He wanted to experience the sufferings that we brought upon ourselves. He couldnt experience sin; in fact, He came to save us from sin. But He wanted to experience the consequences of sin. He wanted to lower Himself to our level to the point of identifying Himself with the very people He came to save. He wanted to cry out of sadness for the death of a friend, He wanted to experience the weariness of a full day of work, He wanted to feel hungry and thirsty and He wanted to experience the pain and agony of death. In short, He loved us so much that He wanted to share our fate, even if He had not been responsible for it. But He didnt stop there. His greatest act of love was to suffer all our miseries and to share our destiny in the midst of rejection and scorn. His love for us is unconditional. He doesnt wait for us to correspond in the same way. He gives without expecting anything in return. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. At Calvary, Jesus takes the sin of the world upon Himself. In a similar way, as He immerses Himself in the waters of the Jordan, the sinless one takes upon Himself the sins of humanity. Through His baptism, Jesus announces to the world that His public ministry has begun. In His humanity, He freely chooses to complete this mission and makes a free decision: He will carry out the Fathers will to its ultimate consequence.

His baptism is a sign of His mission: to humbly obey the will of His Father, no matter how unreasonable, no matter how illogical, no matter how difficult, no matter what the consequences. And the greatest consequence is that Jesus, the innocent one, died like a criminal in a supreme act of love for all those He came to save.

We should learn a lot from Our Lord Jesus Christ. The humility of Jesus contrasts with our pride when we should admit our own faults. We all know that it is difficult to admit our mistakes. Admitting them requires humility and then it requires repentance and conversion. If we are really humble we will put all our efforts into trying to change and to amend our lives. But as time goes by we just get used to the way we are. We think to ourselves: why change, when we have tried so many times? It is easier to justify ourselves and blame others for our behavior. We would be much better if we were in other circumstances. We reacted the way we did because we were provoked. We cant resist temptation because it was too strong. Why shouldnt we do something when everybody does it anyway? Why shouldnt we look for an easier life after all we have done for God and others? We find all kinds of excuses to blame others for our faults. We justify following our will very quickly and we easily forget to follow Gods will when it becomes too difficult.

God loves those who are humble, those who feel weak and needy. God doesnt help the proud because the proud dont feel they need any help. If we admitted our own need to change we would find so much peace! None of us is perfectly happy the way we are. Deep inside we know we want to be better. We would all love one another if all of us admitted our own faults and if we had the willingness to improve and change.

To be humble we have to try to listen to Gods will. Only those who are humble and feel the need for Gods help are the ones who listen intently to Gods will. And when we listen to His will we also find the purpose to our life. In todays culture, many people, even those who are baptized Christians, have great difficulty with their own identity. Many people wonder what their purpose is in this life. People find little or no meaning as they carry out their daily activities. A cloud of laziness hangs over many people as they also strive to find direction for their lives. Todays feast shows us that Jesus gives us meaning, purpose and direction. It is through the sacrament of baptism that we become His disciples. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and it is precisely in Jesus that our human existence finds fulfillment.

We dont know what to do or how to behave? Simple: just be a good disciple of

Jesus. Imitate the good Master. Be like Him. Let us humbly admit our faults and lets start learning from the good, gentle and meek Jesus. In the waters of our own baptism we were given the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with the fire of His love and to help us follow Gods will despite the difficulties.