20220109 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM IS DEFINED BY THE LORD
09 January, 2022, Sunday, Baptism of the Lord
First reading |
Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11 © |
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all mankind shall see it
‘Console my people, console them’
says your God.
‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem
and call to her
that her time of service is ended,
that her sin is atoned for,
that she has received from the hand of the Lord
double punishment for all her crimes.’
A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness
a way for the Lord.
Make a straight highway for our God
across the desert.
Let every valley be filled in,
every mountain and hill be laid low.
Let every cliff become a plain,
and the ridges a valley;
then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed
and all mankind shall see it;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
Go up on a high mountain,
joyful messenger to Zion.
Shout with a loud voice,
joyful messenger to Jerusalem.
Shout without fear,
say to the towns of Judah,
‘Here is your God.’
Here is the Lord coming with power,
his arm subduing all things to him.
The prize of his victory is with him,
his trophies all go before him.
He is like a shepherd feeding his flock,
gathering lambs in his arms,
holding them against his breast
and leading to their rest the mother ewes.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 103(104):1-4,24-25,27-30 © |
Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are.
Lord God, how great you are,
clothed in majesty and glory,
wrapped in light as in a robe!
You stretch out the heavens like a tent.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are.
Above the rains you build your dwelling.
You make the clouds your chariot,
you walk on the wings of the wind,
you make the winds your messengers
and flashing fire your servant.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are.
How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your riches.
There is the sea, vast and wide,
with its moving swarms past counting,
living things great and small.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are.
All of these look to you
to give them their food in due season.
You give it, they gather it up:
you open your hand, they have their fill.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are.
You hide your face, they are dismayed;
you take back your spirit, they die.
You send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the earth.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are.
Second reading |
Titus 2:11-14,3:4-7 © |
He saved us by means of the cleansing water of rebirth
God’s grace has been revealed, and it has made salvation possible for the whole human race and taught us that what we have to do is to give up everything that does not lead to God, and all our worldly ambitions; we must be self-restrained and live good and religious lives here in this present world, while we are waiting in hope for the blessing which will come with the Appearing of the glory of our great God and saviour Christ Jesus. He sacrificed himself for us in order to set us free from all wickedness and to purify a people so that it could be his very own and would have no ambition except to do good.
But when the kindness and love of God our saviour for mankind were revealed, it was not because he was concerned with any righteous actions we might have done ourselves; it was for no reason except his own compassion that he saved us, by means of the cleansing water of rebirth and by renewing us with the Holy Spirit which he has so generously poured over us through Jesus Christ our saviour. He did this so that we should be justified by his grace, to become heirs looking forward to inheriting eternal life.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Lk3:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Someone is coming, said John, someone greater than I.
He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Luke 3:15-16,21-22 © |
'Someone is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire'
A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people, who were beginning to think that John might be the Christ, so John declared before them all, ‘I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Now when all the people had been baptised and while Jesus after his own baptism was at prayer, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily shape, like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.’
CHRISTIAN BAPTISM IS DEFINED BY THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Isa 40,1-5, 9-11; Ps 104: Tit 2:11-14; 3:4-7; Lk 3:15-16, 21-22]
Last Sunday, we celebrated the feast of Epiphany, which means the manifestation of Christ as the Saviour of the world, including the Gentiles. Today, the Church continues the theme of manifestation when Christ revealed His identity as the Messiah and the Son of the Father. “While Jesus after his own baptism was at prayer, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily shape, like a dove, and a voice came from the heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests with you.” We are reminded of the same words addressed to the Suffering Servant in Isaiah when God said, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.” (Isa 42:1f) Clearly, in Luke’s understanding, Jesus is the promised Messiah and the One who would restore Israel and bring salvation to the whole world.
But He is more than just the Messiah, the Suffering Servant; He is the Son of God, the beloved of the Father. As Isaiah said, “‘Here is your God.’ Here is the Lord coming with power, his arm subduing all things to him. The prize of his victory is with him, his trophies all go before him. He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against his breast and leading to their rest the mother ewes.'” In Christ, God comes to shepherd us and to win victory over sin and death. Jesus is the power and wisdom of God. In Him, our sins are forgiven through His passion, death and resurrection. Hence, Isaiah was instructed by God to console His people. “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call to her that her time of service is ended, that her sin is atoned for, that she has received from the hand of the Lord double punishment for all her crimes.” Baptism is the instrument of grace.
Indeed, the unique messianic and divine identity of our Lord distinguishes the baptism of John the Baptist from Christian baptism. When the apostles were at Ephesus, they met some believers and Paul asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” They were baptized only in John’s baptism. “And Paul said, ‘John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.’ On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied – altogether there were about twelve of them.” (Acts 19:2-7)
Clearly, the baptism of John the Baptist was part of a symbolic act of the desire to be cleansed of their sins. Water is a symbol of cleansing and purification. This is true even in the ritual and customary practices among other non-Christian religions. The task of John the Baptist as the forerunner of Jesus was simply to prepare the people to welcome the Messiah, the Christ into their lives. As Isaiah said of him, “A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord. Make a straight highway for our God across the desert. Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be laid low, let every cliff become plain, and the ridges a valley; then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all mankind shall see it; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’ Go up on a high mountain, joyful messenger to Zion. Shout with a loud voice, joyful messenger to Jerusalem.” This was the role of John the Baptist, to bring people to Christ the Messiah by calling them to repentance and change of heart.
John the Baptist knew the limited effects of his water baptism. It was just a preparation. As he told the people when a feeling of expectancy had grown among them “who were beginning to think that John might be the Christ, so John declared before them all, ‘I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.'”
Only Jesus can transform them into new creatures just as He transformed water into wine at Cana, an event which the Church considers alongside with Epiphany and His baptism as another divine manifestation. At the end of the miracle of the changing of water into wine, St John noted, “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” (Jn 2:11) In other words, beyond the symbolic meaning of purification and cleansing in John’s Baptism, it did not bring about the full effects of what it symbolized. Jesus however has the power to give us the Holy Spirit.
It is the Holy Spirit that we receive at baptism that makes us sons and daughters in Christ. Writing to the Galatians, St Paul said “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.” (Gal 4:4-7) Baptism makes us children of God and gives us a conscious experience of God as our Father. This is modelling after the baptism of our Lord when He too was affirmed in His Sonship by His heavenly Father.
But baptism does not simply make us God’s children; the Holy Spirit gives us the capacity to be baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. St Paul, writing to the Romans said, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” (Rom 8:14-17) Indeed, the power of Christian baptism lies in the fact that we become children of God in name and in fact. We no longer live in fear even of death and enslave ourselves to the world as a consequence, but with the spirit of adoption, we live in the strength and power of our Lord.
As Paul urges us, our hearts must be filled with gratitude for the baptism we have received in Christ. It is God’s mercy and grace revealed to us in Christ. Baptism is a free gift of God to us in Christ. It is due to no merit of ours. Indeed, “it was not because he was concerned with any righteous actions we might have done ourselves; it was for no reason except his own compassion that he saved us.” His Spirit that filled our hearts is the consequence of our repentance from sin and accepting Christ as our Saviour and Lord. It is “by means of the cleansing water of rebirth and by renewing us with the Holy Spirit which he has so generously poured over us through Jesus Christ our saviour. He did this so that we should be justified by his grace, to become heirs looking forward to inheriting eternal life.”
How do we show our gratitude to Christ for the gift of baptism, of receiving His Holy Spirit, justified by His grace, with our sins forgiven and sonship regained? We are called to put on Christ in our lives, to live like Him in love and service, doing good and living a virtuous life. St Paul wrote, He has “taught us that what we have to do is to give up everything that does not lead to God, and all our worldly ambitions; we must be self-restrained and live good and religious lives here in this present world, while we are waiting in hope for the blessing which will come with the appearing of the glory of our great God and saviour Christ Jesus. He sacrificed himself for us in order to set us free from all wickedness and to purify a people so that it could be his very own and would have no ambition except to do good.”
Truly, as we celebrate Christ’s baptism, we must also celebrate our own. Like Christ who received His mission to proclaim the Father’s unconditional love to humanity, to carry the sins of the world upon Himself so as to show us the way and redeem us on the cross, we too are given a similar vocation to live out our baptism according to the state of life we are in and the vocation God has given to us. We must live out our vocation faithfully, which will involve sacrifices, suffering, rejection and frustrations. But with Christ in us, we can do it in the Spirit.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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