The Great Transition of "Yes"

(The following is a homily given on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church, Enid OK, 1/10/16)

Reading 1 Is 42:1-4, 6-7

Responsorial Psalm Ps 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10

Reading 2 Acts 10:34-38

Gospel Lk 3:15-16, 21-22

Over the past couple of weeks, we have rejoiced in the coming of our savior, who was born to us by lowly means in order to bring us to the heights of heaven.  We have heralded the Prince of Peace with the shepherds and the angels.  We have seen the salvation prepared for every people with Simeon and Ann as Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the temple.  We have brought our paltry gifts before the King of Kings with the magi. 

But this moment – the baptism of the Lord – marks for us a transition, for it is here that Jesus is manifested to the world as the beloved Son of God, and gives a public “yes” to his mission.

This is important for us because it is here that Christ sets a precedent for his followers.  Here he blesses the waters of baptism, and makes this sacrament the gateway for all believers into eternal glory.  He shows us the path to exultation, and it is a path of humility and obedience to the will of the Father.

In his baptism in the Jordan, Our Lord gives testimony to what the prophet Isaiah and the Psalmist foretold, that the path to God is through service and trust. God’s servant is upheld as an example of holiness.  God’s chosen one gives delight to God as a beacon of obedience.  The very Son of God gives his father glory and praise through selflessness. (see first reading and Responsorial Psalm)

In this most radical act of humility, Christ forges a path for his followers to take; a path that is a covenant between God and man, symbolically sealed by water, but truly sealed by his blood that he will shed on Good Friday.

Since this pivotal moment, his Church has been entrusted to bring the message of salvation to every corner of the world by means of the sacrament of baptism.  As Christ tells his disciples in his great commission of the Gospel of St. Matthew: “Go, makes disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” (Mt. 28:19)  It is here that he shows us that he is a God who “shows no partiality,” but wishes to bring salvation to anyone who would receive it. (see second reading)

By baptism, we are made sons and daughters of God.  We are this not because we somehow add to the number of siblings Christ had on earth, but by the fact that we become a part of his Body, the Church.   This is why the Church has always preached a Gospel of baptism – dying to ourselves, being buried in the cleansing waters of the sacrament, and rising to new life in Christ.

The baptism offered by Christ though his church is different from that of his predecessor John because it is more than a cleansing.  We see this in how John describes the two baptisms: “I am baptizing you with water, but … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (see Gospel reading)

Water is a symbol of cleansing.  It takes away the grime and filth that has built up on that which is cleansed.  But fire is also a symbol of cleansing.  The difference is that the cleansing offered by fire is a purification.  Like gold being refined in a furnace, the baptism of the Lord not only cleanses us physically, but transforms us into a completely new and redeemed creation. 

You see, my brothers and sisters, the sacrament of baptism, by which we become God’s children in a unique way, is the gift of our adoption in Christ.  This means that when we hear God speak of his “beloved” in whom he is well pleased (see Gospel Reading), he is speaking about us by virtue of our participation in the Body of Christ.  I have become his beloved son; you become his beloved daughter; not because we deserve it, but because Christ Jesus paved a path of love for us, and when he asked us to follow him, we said “yes.”

We said “yes” to him, through our baptism; we said “yes” to him in confession; and we say “yes” to him at this altar.  Yes to conversion; yes to repentance; yes to faith and hope and charity.

We are asked to help our world say “yes” to our God through the white robes of baptism we wear within our souls.  May we, then, give our assent to this journey before us.  It is a journey paved with humility and obedience.  And its destination is nothing less than eternal glory.