Because of a devastating childhood illness at nineteen months, Helen
Keller (1880-1968) was left both blind and deaf. Her life was rightly written
up as a "miracle story" and became a play called "The Miracle
Worker" (1957) with Anne Bancroft starring in the Broadway production
(1959). But the "miracle" Helen Keller experienced was not any return
of hearing or vision. The "miracle" she received was the miracle of
her committed, loving family, and of her relentlessly optimistic and patient
teacher Anne Sullivan.
When Helen was seven years old, trapped in a world where she could only
communicate through a few hand signals with the family cook, her parents
arranged for a twenty-year old, visually impaired teacher to come and work with
their daughter. Using American Sign Language, Anne Sullivan spent months
"spelling" words into Helen's hands. Everything Helen touched,
everything she ate, every person she encountered, was "spelled out"
into her hand.
At first Helen Keller didn't get it. These random motions being pressed
into her palm did not connect with experiences she felt. But Sullivan refused
to give up. She kept spelling words. She kept giving "tactile-verbal"
references for everything Helen encountered.
Finally there was a "watershed" moment, which was indeed water-powered.
Helen's breakthrough moment was as she was having water pumped over her hands
and Anne Sullivan kept spelling the word for "water" over and over
into her palm. Suddenly Helen "got it." Suddenly she realized those
gestures meant something real and tangible. They were naming what she was
experiencing.
The world of communication, reading, literature, human interaction were
all made possible to one person through the gift of another person. The
"miracle" Helen's teacher Anne Sullivan worked was the miracle of
patience. She simply kept on and kept at it, showing Helen there were
"words" for "things," and there was true meaning behind all
Helen's experiences.
Wash Off the Stuff of
the Day:
One of the most successful and personable people on
television is Oprah Winfrey. Movies, book clubs, she does it all. Huge business
operations. While all the other talk shows on television are tearing people
apart and putting all their illnesses out for public humiliation, Oprah is
helping put people and families back together again. . . In a Newsweek magazine
interview the interviewer asked her, "How do you separate yourself from
work?" Answer, "I take a hot bath. . . My bath is my sanctuary.
(Listen to this) It's the place where I can wash off all the stuff of the
day" ((Jan 8, 2001, p. 45).
Baptism is a huge symbol -- it's
the water of creation. . . .we are born anew. . . . life in the Spirit . . .
all the "stuff" of the day is washed off. All of that is true. But at
its basic level, baptism is the death of the old self. Before anything new can
be born, the old has to pass away. (Brett
Blair)
The Baptism of the Lord is the great event celebrated
by the Eastern churches on the feast of Epiphany, because it is the occasion of
the first public revelation of all the Three Persons in the Holy Trinity, and
the official revelation of Jesus as the Son of God to the world by God the
Father. It is also an event described by all the four gospels, and it marks the
beginning of Jesus' public ministry. The liturgical season of Christmas comes
to a conclusion this Sunday with the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord.
The 13th century king of France, St. Louis IX (1226-70), insisted that the
grand celebration of his birthday should be held on the day of his baptism, and
not on his birthday proper. His argument was that baptism was the beginning of
a life that would continue for eternity in the everlasting glory of heaven.
John the Baptist had already been baptising people before
Jesus began his public ministry. John explained that his baptism was with water
whereas Jesus’ baptism would be with water, the Holy Spirit and fire. The
difference between the two baptisms was significant. Nevertheless, Jesus chose
to be baptised by John in the River Jordan.
Jesus’ baptism was a defining moment in his life. It marked
a departure from the years of relative anonymity (the hidden years, as they
have sometimes been described) and the beginning of three years of public
ministry. His baptism affected him greatly. He was revealed by the Father as
being divine as well as human. He was commissioned to do the Father’s will and
he was assured that the Father’s favour would be with him throughout his
ministry.
During that ministry Jesus preached the Good News of
salvation, worked many miracles and, ultimately, died on the cross to save us
and all people from the consequences of sin. His ministry was effectively
living the baptised life in union with God.
The sacrament of baptism is meant to be a defining moment in
the lives of Christians. At baptism we are cleansed from sin through sharing in
Christ’s death and resurrection. We are chosen by God to be agents and
instruments of the Good News.
Thus baptism marks the abandonment of sin and the acceptance
of God’s grace, which is given to us through Jesus Christ. We become brothers
and sisters in Christ and our membership of the Church is initiated.
Thereafter, our lives can never be the same again. There is a radical
difference in our dignity and identity, provided that we assimilate the meaning
of baptism in our lives.
The basic task for every Christian, then, is to live the
baptised life. This means that we need to recognise that we have been chosen by
God to share in Jesus’ life and ministry. It involves welcoming the presence of
the Holy Spirit into our lives who, working through the Church, influences our
decisions. Living the baptised life requires us to imitate the teaching of
Christ and his Church. We reject sin and we teach others by our inspired words
and good example. Only then can God say to each one of us: ‘You are my
son/daughter; my beloved; my favour rests on you’ (see Luke 3:22). Therefore,
baptism offers us a new identity in Christ.
Unfortunately, however, the effects of baptism are often
more symbolic than real. There are only minor changes in our lives and we
continue to sin. We do not permit the grace of baptism to affect our attitudes
and behaviour and there is little or no evidence of genuine conversion. If we
are honest, we may admit that we might as well have never been baptised because
baptism makes no difference to our lives.
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord challenges us to
reflect on our baptism and its significance in our lives. At a time when many
people have abandoned God it is imperative that Christians are committed to
living the baptised life. Unless we are faithful to our baptismal promises by
rejecting evil and being obedient to Christ, we cannot claim to be authentic
disciples and we cannot be genuine witnesses to the Good News.
************************************************************
Michel de
Verteuil: General Comments
The Baptism of the Lord is told in all four gospels with
each one giving its own slant. We must be faithful to the text before us – St
Luke’s version. The story can be read from different perspectives; in our
meditation we are free to choose the one which corresponds best to our
experience.
• It is first of all an extraordinary religious experience.
St Luke’s is the only version which says that Jesus “was at prayer”. Luke does
not emphasize the actual baptism at all, but presents it as the prelude to the
main event – the descent of the Holy Spirit and the voice from heaven.
We should enter fully
into the images:
- “Heaven opened” indicates that all dualism is broken down – between God and humanity, between humanity and nature.
- “The Holy Spirit
descended in bodily shape, like a dove” – the experience of the Holy Spirit is
vivid but very gentle.
- “A voice came from
heaven” should be interpreted in the same spirit as the coming of the Holy
Spirit. It is so vivid and so gentle that it could only have come from heaven.
The voice makes three statements, each with its own importance:
- “You are my son” – in the Bible, divine sonship is attributed to kings, usually on the occasion of their enthronement; royal power is conferred on Jesus.
- “The beloved” – Jesus is assured that he is loved tenderly, as a bridegroom is loved by his bride.
- “My favour rests on you” says that God’s love remains permanently with him – it is not something temporary. We are reminded of Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, “As the Father has loved me so I have loved you, remain in my love” (John 5:9).
The voice makes three statements, each with its own importance:
- “You are my son” – in the Bible, divine sonship is attributed to kings, usually on the occasion of their enthronement; royal power is conferred on Jesus.
- “The beloved” – Jesus is assured that he is loved tenderly, as a bridegroom is loved by his bride.
- “My favour rests on you” says that God’s love remains permanently with him – it is not something temporary. We are reminded of Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, “As the Father has loved me so I have loved you, remain in my love” (John 5:9).
• Verses 21 and 22 make
no reference to the historical context, but the inclusion of verses 15 and 16
in the liturgical reading reminds us that Jesus’ baptism took place when John
the Baptist’s ministry was about to come to an end. The baptism was therefore
Jesus’ call to public ministry. This fits the biblical pattern by which a call
to do God’s work is always preceded by a deep experience of God, e.g. Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Gideon in the Old Testament, Mary and Zechariah in the New.
Experience bears out that this pattern of a deep personal
experience leading to a new commitment occurs in the lives of many people. It
happened to saints such as Augustine, Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila and
Margaret Mary, and to many other great men and women. We can identify a similar
pattern in our own lives too.
• Even though, as noted above, St Luke downplays Jesus’
baptism, we are free to focus on it. St Luke notes that Jesus came forward
“when all the people had been baptised,” inviting us to see him as entering
into solidarity with those who had come to John for baptism.
• In St Luke’s version, Jesus’ baptism was a personal
experience. It happened when he was “at prayer” and “the voice which came from
heaven” was addressed to him – “You are…”. This interpretation is not insisted
on, however, so we have the latitude to interpret the story as a proclamation
to the bystanders. It then becomes the story of when we perceive the spark of
divinity in someone we previously looked down on.
***************************************************************
Thomas
O’Loughlin: Homily notes
1. Between today and the end of next November,
except for some special days around Easter, we will be reading passages from
St Luke’s gospel each Sunday at the Eucharist. This year is known in the order
of our readings as ‘the year of Luke’.
2. We can divide his gospel into three parts:
the first deals with the events before and around the birth of Jesus (and we
have just read this portion over Christmas; the third part deals with the last
week of Jesus’s life in Jerusalem, his passion, death, and resurrection (and we
will read this at Easter); and in between we have all the preaching and
miracles of Jesus during his public ministry which St Luke sets out as taking
place as Jesus moves along the road from Nazareth to Jerusalem.
3. This central part of the gospel- the
teaching and preaching with recollections of healings and meals – all belong to
what we traditionally call the public ministry of Jesus, his adult life, his
activity among the people of Israel. It is this central part of the gospel that
provides the passages for the ordinary Sundays during the coming year. This
central part opens with the great scene of the baptism in the Jordan we have
just read when Jesus takes over from John the Baptist. The work of the time of
preparation is over; the time of the work of the Christ has begun.
4. Luke places this wondrous scene – the two
great prophets meeting, and then the Father’s voice being heard and the Spirit
appearing in the form of a dove – at the beginning of the public ministry to
show us that this is the mysterious inauguration of the new age of the Christ.
He also does it so that when we hear what follows – Jesus doing this or that,
saying this or that, meeting this person and then that person – we will keep in
mind the full identity of the One we call ‘Lord’.
5. Luke presents us with a highly visual
mysterious scene – picture it in your minds – of Jesus and John in the river,
crowds of followers around and then from above the heavenly voice and the dove:
this is the true identity of Jesus. Jesus is a human being like us, the final
prophet, the uniquely beloved Son of God, the one empowered by the Spirit, the
revelation of the Father, Emmanuel – God with us, the glory of God made
manifest to us.
6. We have to keep this wondrous image of
Jesus in the Jordan, the revelation of his true identity, in our minds as we
move onwards in our recollection of his words and deeds in the weeks and months
ahead.
7. There are now between 345 and 351 shopping
days before next Christmas.
Prayer
reflection
“In discovering the
Father, Jesus has found an ‘other’ (‘I and the Father are one’);
in the Spirit he has discovered his non-duality with Yahweh.” Abhishiktanda (Dom Henri Le Saulx)
Lord, we thank you for deep prayer experiences when we are truly one with Jesus.
They always come to us as your free gift, unexpectedly,
after a long time of struggle when we felt we were drowning,
abandoned by all, including you.
After we have been baptised in these waters of loneliness, suddenly
- heaven opens and we feel at one with the universe,
the sun, the moon and the stars all seem close;
- your Holy Spirit descends on us, his powerful but gentle presence so vivid
that it is almost in a bodily shape like a dove;
- we hear a voice resonating so deeply within us we know it must come from heaven,
- telling us that we are not aliens in the world but princes and princesses,
members of your royal family,
- that we are beloved,
- and we must never allow ourselves to feel abandoned
since your favour rests forever on us.
Thank you, Lord.
in the Spirit he has discovered his non-duality with Yahweh.” Abhishiktanda (Dom Henri Le Saulx)
Lord, we thank you for deep prayer experiences when we are truly one with Jesus.
They always come to us as your free gift, unexpectedly,
after a long time of struggle when we felt we were drowning,
abandoned by all, including you.
After we have been baptised in these waters of loneliness, suddenly
- heaven opens and we feel at one with the universe,
the sun, the moon and the stars all seem close;
- your Holy Spirit descends on us, his powerful but gentle presence so vivid
that it is almost in a bodily shape like a dove;
- we hear a voice resonating so deeply within us we know it must come from heaven,
- telling us that we are not aliens in the world but princes and princesses,
members of your royal family,
- that we are beloved,
- and we must never allow ourselves to feel abandoned
since your favour rests forever on us.
Thank you, Lord.
Lord, remind us that we
do not dare enter your presence
except we are in communion with the rest of humanity,
and especially with the humblest of our brothers and sisters,
- those written off as sinners by our Church community;
- the victims of racism, sexism, elitism and religious persecution;
- abandoned by their families because they are HIV positive;
- those who are mentally or physically handicapped.
It is only when, like Jesus, we have had our own baptism of solidarity with them
that we can enter confidently into prayer,
- look for the heavens to be opened,
- – your Holy Spirit to descend on us in bodily shape like a dove,
- your voice to assure us that we are your Sons and Daughters, your beloved,
and that your favour rests on us.
except we are in communion with the rest of humanity,
and especially with the humblest of our brothers and sisters,
- those written off as sinners by our Church community;
- the victims of racism, sexism, elitism and religious persecution;
- abandoned by their families because they are HIV positive;
- those who are mentally or physically handicapped.
It is only when, like Jesus, we have had our own baptism of solidarity with them
that we can enter confidently into prayer,
- look for the heavens to be opened,
- – your Holy Spirit to descend on us in bodily shape like a dove,
- your voice to assure us that we are your Sons and Daughters, your beloved,
and that your favour rests on us.
“The more a Christian
community is rooted in the experience of God,
the more credibly it will be able to proclaim to others the fulfilment
of God’s Kingdom in Jesus Christ.” Ecclesia in Asia
Lord, before we embark on a new direction in our lives
- the religious life, or marriage,
- a political involvement,
- going to a foreign country to improve ourselves,
- giving up a secure job so that we can serve the poor,
teach us to first humble ourselves before you, as Jesus did.
Only after we have been baptised will the heavens be opened,
the Spirit descend on us in bodily shape, like a dove,
and your voice will proclaim that we are your Beloved
and your favour rests on us. Then, like Jesus,
we will be ready to commit ourselves to the new venture you have called us to.
the more credibly it will be able to proclaim to others the fulfilment
of God’s Kingdom in Jesus Christ.” Ecclesia in Asia
Lord, before we embark on a new direction in our lives
- the religious life, or marriage,
- a political involvement,
- going to a foreign country to improve ourselves,
- giving up a secure job so that we can serve the poor,
teach us to first humble ourselves before you, as Jesus did.
Only after we have been baptised will the heavens be opened,
the Spirit descend on us in bodily shape, like a dove,
and your voice will proclaim that we are your Beloved
and your favour rests on us. Then, like Jesus,
we will be ready to commit ourselves to the new venture you have called us to.
Lord, forgive us that as
a Church we tend to come to others
with feelings of superiority.
Help us rather to see your son Jesus in whatever culture,
Ethnic group, race or social class you invite us to enter.
The world may describe them as backward, primitive, third world,
unemployable or lazy;
we pray that we will stand before them with respect
until we see the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descending on them,
gently like a dove, and hear your voice proclaiming mightily
that these are your Sons and Daughters, your Beloved,
and that your favour rests on them.
with feelings of superiority.
Help us rather to see your son Jesus in whatever culture,
Ethnic group, race or social class you invite us to enter.
The world may describe them as backward, primitive, third world,
unemployable or lazy;
we pray that we will stand before them with respect
until we see the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descending on them,
gently like a dove, and hear your voice proclaiming mightily
that these are your Sons and Daughters, your Beloved,
and that your favour rests on them.
************
HOMILIES:
1.
Fr.
John Speekman
Atheists and believers are not always dissimilar, especially
the non-practising ones. Atheists claim life is ultimately without meaning but
most live as though it were not so. They are like the believers who claim faith
in an afterlife but live as though their true home was here, on planet earth.
It’s difficult to fully live what we believe and few people actually do so. The great saints are exceptions, as are the great sinners. Teresa of Calcutta, John Paul II, Mary MacKillop are at one end of the spectrum while Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot are at the other.
Between these two extremes we find – ourselves - drifting on the fringes
of the huge whirlpool of life, slowly rotating in the little eddies of our
private lives, at a more or less safe distance from that violent centre which
so preoccupies the true believer as well as the true atheist. Too many of us
have somehow convinced ourselves that coasting along is really how it’s meant
to be. We conveniently forget, though we deny that we do so, that we, too, will
one day be claimed and drawn into the vortex of that great mystery at the heart
of things. But that’s only one day and, in the meantime, we have such a
lot of living to do.
At heart, the true problem of our religious lives is not faith as much as faithfulness to faith, or to put it in the words of today’s Opening Prayer faithfulness to our Baptism. Let me pursue this thought.
At heart, the true problem of our religious lives is not faith as much as faithfulness to faith, or to put it in the words of today’s Opening Prayer faithfulness to our Baptism. Let me pursue this thought.
Baptism is many things but in the first place it is a rebirth. We have actually been born again. We have been regenerated. We are new, really and truly, new, and therefore we are different.
The philosophers speak of the foundation of our being as our ontological being. Ontologically we are men or women, ontologically we are human. No scalpel, however sharp, can change a man into a woman or a human into an animal. Our ontological foundation is inviolable – unreachable - except to the Sacraments.
We who have been baptised have been born again into a new life, the divine life
of God, in Christ. This life was lost through Original Sin and with it the
possibility of friendship with God. Baptism does not restore us, like a house
is restored with a coat of paint, but we are made altogether new –
ontologically. Now the very Spirit of God lives within us, in the core of our
being; now we are ontologically sons and daughters of God and,
therefore, members of his people on earth; now we are pointed towards,
orientated to, destined for heaven.
The Opening Prayer puts it all in neat summary and adds a further thought: Keep us, your children born of water and the Spirit, faithful to our calling.
The Opening Prayer puts it all in neat summary and adds a further thought: Keep us, your children born of water and the Spirit, faithful to our calling.
Baptism is also a calling. We have been born again
into a new life which we, in our turn, are called to live. It is not a no-strings-attached
gift from God but calls us to a whole new way of life.
The call is not an invitation; it is a command. The call to Baptism is an invitation; the call to live the Baptism we have received is a command, and unfortunately therein lies the crisis of the times we live in.
The call is not an invitation; it is a command. The call to Baptism is an invitation; the call to live the Baptism we have received is a command, and unfortunately therein lies the crisis of the times we live in.
It is my firm belief that we do not, generally speaking, live our Baptism because we do not understand what it is we have received and what it has caused us to become.
The remedy for this sad state of affairs is, of course, clearer catechesis from the pulpit and a courageous repetition of the teaching even when some cry ‘Enough!’.
On the other hand, there is the matter of your, yes your, personal
responsibility. I was speaking to someone, a Catholic in good standing, who
expressed some surprise on learning that the Church does, in fact, still teach
that to miss Sunday Mass without adequate reason is a mortal sin. He rightly
criticised the priests for not telling him this was still the case, when others
were saying it had all changed. He said: It would be better to get rid of
the teaching than to keep it quiet like this because it confuses people and
brings the teaching into disrepute. I agreed.
However, there is the matter of the responsibility of every lay person to educate himself in the faith and to make himself a catechetically mature Christian. The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Compendium of the Catechism, are freely available in Catholic bookshops and on the Internet. Everyone should have a copy of the Catechism and everyone who is able should read it. The Internet abounds with good audio talks for those who find reading difficult. CDs and tapes are also freely available.
God has a plan for each one of us. We do well to understand this plan. It is a
wonderful plan; a plan for peace. It begins with Baptism and leads, through a
life of faithfulness to faith, to an eternal happiness in heaven with
God. It is not impossible that your Christian life may touch the jaded heart of
an atheist somewhere and lead him to reconsider whether he might not finally
subscribe to God's plans for him.
2.
Fr.
Charles Irvin
This past
year a great deal of attention was given to the question of same sex marriages,
as we all know only too well. More attention will be given to these marriages
this coming year as well. The fundamental question deals with the nature of
marriage and how we are to understand it. Just what is marriage?
What is
evident is the importance of the ceremony itself. The exchange of vows and
their recognition by the laws of the state and their recognition by all is of
great importance. The ceremony isn’t something that is simply “nice.” It is an
event in which the status of the two individuals is changed. There is a legal and
a civic change in who the individuals are both in law and how they are to be
treated by the members of our society.
Likewise
his past year a great deal of attention was given to question of immigration.
More attention will be given to the problem this year as well. The fundamental
question deals with the nature of immigration and how we are to understand it
and the legal rights it confers. What is evident is the importance of the
ceremony itself. The swearing of allegiance to the United States and its laws
is of great importance. The swearing-in ceremony isn’t something that is simply
“nice,” it is an event in which the status of immigrants is changed. There is a
legal and a civic change in who the individual immigrants are both in law and
how they are to be treated.
There are
other significant ceremonies that have real and yet unseen consequences. Take
for instance the swearing in of the President of the United States, or the
oaths of office that are ceremoniously taken by judges, governors, mayors, and
other civic officials such as officers in our military branches of service.
The
question put to us today here at Mass is the meaning of baptism. Is it simply a
“nice” ceremony? What is the deeper significance contained within the Sacrament
of Baptism?
Take
water, for instance. Why is water the key element of baptism? We could spend
the rest of the day considering the importance of water as presented in the
bible, the Genesis waters of chaos over which God’s Spirit “brooded” to
bring order out of chaos. Then there is the Flood and Noah’s Ark, the waters of
the Red Sea that liberated the ancient Hebrews from their slavery in Egypt, the
waters of the Jordan through which the Jews entered the Promised Land, the
water that flowed from the pierced side of Christ as He died on the Cross, and
other instances of the importance of water. We cannot fail to note, too, that
for the first nine months of our existence we lived in the waters of our
mothers’ wombs. We were birthed in water.
What is of
particular importance is the role of God’s Holy Spirit that was highlighted in
today’s gospel account of John the Baptist’s immersion of Jesus in the waters
of the Jordan River. St. Matthew reports: “After Jesus was baptized, he
came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw
the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Once again, as at the
beginning of creation and throughout the history of our salvation, as reported
in the bible, the Spirit of God is at work. That is the key to our
understanding of what is happening when we are baptized. God is at work in His
New Creation. By the power of the Holy Spirit we are reborn in the waters of
the baptismal font, the womb of Holy Mother Church. Who we are is
radically changed. We are changed in our very being; we are newly created in
God’s love by the power of God’s Holy Spirit in the recreating waters of
Baptism.
Allow me
to point out that immediately after the waters of baptism have been poured out
over the person baptized, or after the persons rises from being immersed in a
baptismal pool, the bishop, priest, or deacon declares: God the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ has freed you from sin, given you a new birth by water
and the Holy Spirit, and welcomed you into his holy people. He now anoints you
with the chrism of salvation. As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, and King,
so may you live always as a member of his body, sharing everlasting life. Then
in silence the celebrant anoints the individual with Sacred Chrism, the
Sacrament of the Holy Spirit. The word “chrism” is taken from the word
“Christ,” which means “The Anointed One,” the one anointed by the Holy Spirit
of God, chosen and elected, sent by God to bring His presence into our world.
I
have presented all of these thoughts to you because you are not “nobodies.”
Baptism makes you a son of God or a daughter of God. The world around you might
regard you as insignificant, a mere “nobody,” but you are really special,
really important, and of great significance in the eyes of God. Many of us from
time to time may think we don’t amount to very much and that we are
unimportant. But the truth of who you really are is found in the words of your
Father in heaven. “This is my beloved son.” “This is my beloved daughter.” In
baptism you became one of God’s sons or daughters in whom He is well pleased,
chosen by your Father in heaven. And not only that, but like the disciples at
Pentecost, you are sent, something that is confirmed when you received the
Sacrament of Confirmation and were anointed by the Holy Spirit of God.
One again
we need to realize that we don’t come to church simply to get something. We
receive the Sacraments and we come to Mass to receive in order to be sent, sent
into our world not to judge and condemn it but in the power of the Holy Spirit
to redeem it. Our new pope, Pope Francis, stresses that repeatedly. His words
are not addressed only to bishops, priests, and deacons but also to all who
have been baptized into Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer who makes Himself
present in our world through you and me.
One
last thought: How are we who have been baptized into Christ making Him present
in our world? Baptism ought to make a difference; if it doesn’t then it may as
well be simply a pretty ceremony, something that doesn’t change a thing in how
we act and in how we treat others. Allow me to suggest that you might give it
some thought. In our own uniqueness we each can have our own way in bringing
Christ to the world around us. Just how are we doing that? How will you do
that?
3.
Connections:
THE WORD:
Today’s
Gospel is the final event of the Epiphany event: Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan
River by John.
The
Baptizer’s refusal at first to baptize Jesus and Jesus’ response to his refusal
(a dialogue that appears only in Matthew’s Gospel) speaks to Matthew’s
continuing theme of Jesus as the fulfillment of the First Testament
prophecies. Jesus clearly did not need to be baptized. But his
baptism by John is an affirmation that God was with this man Jesus in a very
special way – at the Jordan River, Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled: “my favor
rests on him.” Jesus has come to identify with sinners, to bring them
forgiveness; hence the propriety of Jesus' acceptance of John’s baptism.
Baptism
was a ritual performed by the Jews, usually for those who entered Judaism from
another religion. It was natural that the sin-stained, polluted pagan
should be “washed” in baptism, but no Jew could conceive of needing baptism,
being born a son of Abraham, one of God’s chosen people and therefore assured
of God’s salvation. But John’s baptism -- a baptism affirmed by Jesus --
was not one of initiation, but one of reformation, a rejection of sin in one’s
own life and acknowledgment of one’s own need for conversion. In Christ,
baptism becomes a sacrament of rebirth, a reception of new life.
In all the
Gospel accounts of Jesus’ baptism, all four evangelists use a similar
description of the scene at the Jordan when Jesus is baptized by John:
The Spirit of God descended and rested upon him, “hovering” over him like a
dove -- as the Gospel story unfolds, the Spirit of God’s peace, compassion and
love, will be the constant presence dwelling within and flowing forth from the
Carpenter from Nazareth.
HOMILY
POINTS:
In
baptism, we claim the name of Christian and embrace all that that holy
name means: to live for others rather than for ourselves, in imitation of
Christ.
Our
baptism made each one of us the “servant” of today’s readings: to bring forth
in our world the justice, reconciliation and enlightenment of Christ, the
“beloved Son” and “favor” of God.
In
baptism, we embrace that same Spirit that “hovers” over us, guiding us in our
journey to God.
Liturgically,
the Christmas season officially comes to an end with today’s Feast of the
Baptism of the Lord. Now the same Spirit that “anoints” the Messiah for
his mission calls us to be about the work of Christmas in this new year: to
seek out and find the lost, to heal the hurting, to feed the hungry, to free
the imprisoned, to rebuild families and nations, to bring the peace of God to
all peoples everywhere.
4.
Andrew Greeley
Background:
The
baptism of Jesus was a problem for his followers, as we have said before.
John's disciples could always lord it over the disciples of Jesus: "Our
master baptized your master, nah, nah, nah!" It also creates a problem for
those hyper-orthodox Catholics today who so emphasize the divinity in Jesus
that there is little room for his humanity. They are also boxed in by the
phrase that Jesus grew in wisdom, age, and grace. Any suggestion that God might
grow scares them.
An authentic Christology, however, which sees
Jesus like the rest of us in all things save sin, sees no problem in his
listening to the Baptist and going through a ceremony of renewal and
rededication before he began his public life. Did Jesus learn anything from the
Baptist? If, like all humans, he grew in understanding and maturity, the only
appropriate answer is that of course he did.
Story:
(a story for those who object to the
humanity of Jesus)
Once
upon a time a family moved into a new house. It was a very nice house with a
lot more room than in their old house. However, it was also strange and when it
came time to go to bed, the three children were very sleepy. They didn’t like
their rooms because they were unfamiliar and they didn’t like the house because
it was not their old house and they didn’t like anything because they were so
tired. Well, finally they fell asleep and had terrible nightmares. Then they
woke up and were frightened and angry.
Their parents didn’t come to the room to tuck
them in again. This made them more frightened and angry. So they stormed down
stairs and discovered that both their parents had fallen asleep in the front
room, their mother on the couch and their father on an easy chair. The kids
were shocked and dismayed. What good were parents who grew so tired when they
moved to a new house that they forgot their kids and just fell asleep.
Their parents were not perfect. So they woke
their mommy up and shouted at her. Why did you go to sleep on us mommy? Because
I’m human she said and I get tired. Even Jesus got tired. Yeah said the kids
but he wasn’t our mommy!
ILLUSTRATIONS:
Over the
centuries Christians have debated what baptism accomplishes, to whom it should
be administered, and how much water should be used.
Christian
Theology in Plain Language, p. 158.
The story is told about the baptism of King Aengus by St. Patrick in the middle of the fifth century. Sometime during the rite, St. Patrick leaned on his sharp-pointed staff and inadvertently stabbed the king's foot. After the baptism was over, St. Patrick looked down at all the blood, realized what he had done, and begged the king's forgiveness. Why did you suffer this pain in silence, the Saint wanted to know. The king replied, "I thought it was part of the ritual."
Source
Unknown.
BAPTISM, IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
As I shut
the door of the office after me, it seemed as if I met the Lord Jesus Christ
face to face. It seemed to me that I saw Him as I would see any other man. He
said nothing, but looked at me in such a manner as to break me right down at
His feet. I fell down at His feet, wept aloud like a child, and made such
confessions as I could with my choked utterance. It seemed to me that I bathed
His feet in tears. I must have continued in this state for a good while. I
returned to the front office, but as I turned and was about to take a seat by the
fire, I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any recollection
that I had ever heard the subject mentioned by any person in the world, the
Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to come in waves of
liquid love; it seemed like the very breath of God. I wept aloud with joy and
love.
Charles
Finney.
1. A tiger cub discovers its identity:
There is an old Hindu parable about a tiger cub raised by goats. The
cub learned to bleat and nibble grass and behave like a goat. One night a tiger
attacked the goats, which scattered for safety. But the tiger cub kept grazing
and crying like a goat without getting frightened. The old tiger roared,
"What are you doing here, living with these cowardly goats?" He
grabbed the cub by the scruff, dragged him to a pond and said: "Look how
our faces reflected in water? Now you know who you are and whose you are."
The tiger took the cub home, taught him how to catch animals, eat their meat,
roar and act like a tiger. The tiger cub thus discovered his true self. Today’s
gospel seems to suggest that Jesus received from heaven a fresh flash of
realization of who, and Whose, he really was (his identity) and what he was
supposed to do (his mission), on the day of his baptism in the river Jordan.
2: Identity of the peanut scientist:
Fr. Bill Bausch describes in one of his books George Washington
Carver, the great black scientist who did a lot with the lowly peanut, both
medically and commercially. He built a great industry through his scientific
endeavors. In January 1921 he was brought to Washington , D.C.
At this point George Washington Carver was ready to turn around and
go back home, but he said, as he wrote in his autobiography, "Whatever
they said of me, I knew that I was a child of God, and so I said to myself
inwardly, ‘Almighty God, let me carry out your will.’" He got to the
podium and was told that he had twenty minutes to speak. Carver opened up his
display case and began to explain his project. Well, so engaging was his
discussion that those twenty minutes went all too quickly and the chairman rose
and asked for an extension so he could continue his presentation, which he did
for an hour and three-quarters. They voted him four more extensions so he spoke
for several hours. At the end of his talk they all stood up and gave him a long
round of applause. And all that happened because he knew who, and Whose, he was
and because he refused to be defined by the labels of his culture.
"Whatever they said of me, I knew I was a child of God." So one
function of this, our feast – this Baptism of the Lord – is to remind us of
who, and Whose, we are.
3: The weather is
always a good source for small talk.
In these dark and dreary days of January, that "small
talk" is probably even smaller - meaner and more morose. Whether it's
chatting at the check-out stand with a cashier, or making conversation in the
cramped quarters of a slow moving elevator, this time of year "weather
talk" isn't likely to be upbeat.
"I hate the snow!"
"Don't' you just love what the salt does to your shoes,
your car, your clothes?" "Tornado warnings in January? Really!!"
"It's dark when I go out in the morning and dark when I get home after work. I haven't seen daylight in weeks!"
"Why does every parking spot come equipped with its own giant puddle?"
Everyday grouses of everyday glitches. But they give our
casual conversations and interactions a kind of "survivor"
camaraderie. Verbalizing all our gripes might bind us together. But it doesn't
lift us up. We're still all stuck in the same dreary day.
I'm going to guess that every one of you here this morning
has a pet peeve. [You might want to make this an interactive moment, revealing
one of your pet peeves and then asking for theirs. For example, one of my pet
peeves is rudeness. Why are People So Rude? Why can't people be gracious and
kind to one another? Here are some of my pet peeves of rudeness . . . In a
store, the checkout people don't talk to you because they're talking to one
another. When you hold the door open for someone, and they blast by you, and
don't even look at you, forget about saying "thank you." The use of
offensive, crude language in public does to me what a red rag does to a bull.
Rude cell phone usage . . . Why can't people "Set Your Phasers on
Stun!" . . . Sometimes I want to go up to people who are nice to each
other and congratulate them for NOT being rude. . . .. See how easy it is to go
on and on with "pet peeves?"]
Why is it so easy to talk, tweet, or text all of our
favorite "pet peeves" of the day, and not so easy to pay attention to
and pass on those things that bring the gift of joy to a mundane moment in each
day?...
______________________________4: Meaning of Baptism
Those who are baptized in Jesus do not need to strive
after a new life. They have already attained new life through dying with
Christ. But they do need to nurture that new life so it can grow and mature.
That's what church is for. That's what Bible study is for. That's what prayer
is for. It is like the Parable of the Sower. Many of those seeds sprouted up,
but only a few grew into maturity. The rest withered and died.
A wealthy businessman was horrified to see a fisherman
sitting beside his boat, playing with a small child.
"Why aren't you out fishing?" asked the
businessman.
"Because I caught enough fish for one day,
"replied the fisherman."Why don't you catch some more?"
"What would I do with them?"
"You could earn more money," said the businessman. "Then with the extra money, you could buy a bigger boat, go into deeper waters, and catch more fish. Then you would make enough money to buy nylon nets. With the nets, you could catch even more fish and make more money. With that money you could own two boats, maybe three boats. Eventually you could have a whole fleet of boats and be rich like me."
"Then what would I do?" asked the fisherman.
"Then," said the businessman, "you could
really enjoy life."The fisherman looked at the businessman quizzically and asked, "What do you think I am doing now?"
The baptism of Jesus is dying to our self-centered
endeavors and being resurrected into a life marked by grace and love. When we
live in the baptism of Jesus, we touch the hearts of others and help open them
to the Holy Spirit and new life in Christ. Are you living and growing in the
new life you have been given?
Paul Peterson, The Waters of Death.
_________________
5: Washed Away in a
New Beginning
Some of you may have seen the movie O Brother, Where Art
Thou. This is a whimsical retelling of Homer's Odyssey set in 1930s
Mississippi. Three hapless escaped convicts--Everett, Pete and Delmar--are
hiding out in the woods, running from the law. There they encounter a
procession of white-robed people going down to the lake to be baptized. As they
move toward the water they sing, "Let's go down to the river and
pray." As the baptism ceremony begins, Delmar is overwhelmed by the beauty
and the mystery of this rite. He runs into the water and is baptized by the
minister. As he returns to his companions, he declares that he is now saved and
"neither God nor man's got nothing on me now." He explains that the
minister has told him that all his sins have been washed away. Even, he says,
when he stole the pig for which he'd been convicted. "But you said you
were innocent of that," one of his fellow convicts exclaims.
"I lied," he says, "and that's been washed away too!"
Later the three convicts steal a hot pie from a window sill. The one who felt that his sins had been washed away returns and places a dollar bill on the window sill.
Delmar wasn't made perfect by his baptism any more than any
of the rest of us are made perfect by our baptism. But he was conscious that it
was time for him to make a new beginning. That is why in understanding baptism
we begin with the washing away of our sins.
King Duncan
_________________
6: Habits
The American educator, Horace Mann, described the
predicament of habits saying: "Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it
every day, and at last we cannot break it." Mr. Mann, you are only half
right. Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it every day, but it can be
broken? There is One who will help you break it, if you desire it. Habits are
often practiced without guilt, justified through cleverly devised mental
schemes. We have to be continuously converted all the days of our lives,
continually to turn to God as children. Life is a continuous conversion. In
every setting in which we are put we have to "put on the new person."
There are whole areas of our lives which have not yet been brought into
subjection, and it can only be done by this continuous conversion.
James T. Garrett
______________________
7: Baptism: Take My Good
Name
French writer Henri Barbusse (1874-1935) tells of a
conversation overheard in a trench full of wounded men during the First World
War. One of the men, who knew he only had minutes to live says to one of the
other man, "Listen, Dominic, you've led a very bad life. Everywhere you
are wanted by the police. But there are no convictions against me. My name is
clear, so, here, take my wallet, take my papers, my identity, take my good
name, my life and quickly, hand me your papers that I may carry all your crimes
away with me in death."
The Good News is that through Jesus, God makes a similar
offer. Something wonderful happens to us when we are baptized. When we are
baptized, we identify ourselves with Jesus. We publicly declare our intention
to strive to be like Jesus and follow God's will for our lives. When we are
baptized, our lives are changed. We see things differently than before. We see
other people differently than before. Baptism enables and empowers us to do the
things that Jesus wants us to do here and now. We are able to identify with
Jesus because He was baptized. And we are able to love as he loved. Such
identification is life changing. That kind of identification shapes what we
believe and claims us.
Billy D. Strayhorn
__________________________________________________
8: What's The Holy
Spirit?
A minister named Al was pursuing a doctoral degree in
theology. He worked long hours on his dissertation, so many hours, in fact,
that his children often entered the study to interrupt. "Daddy, can you
come out and play?"
"Sorry, kids," he replied, "I have too much
work to do."
"What are you working on, Daddy?"
Well, he couldn't really give the title of his dissertation,
which was something like "the experiential dimension of the divine pneumatological
reality." So he said, "I'm writing about experiences of the Holy
Spirit."
They looked at him with blank faces and said, "What's
that?"
One day Al and his family were sitting in church. They had
not expected much that morning, he says. The pastor was soft-spoken and meek.
He never said anything very clearly, but everybody liked him. This particular
Sunday was different. The pastor stood up and preached a powerful sermon on
racial equality. This was during the sixties, in the South, in a white, middle
and upper class congregation. People sat transfixed as the preacher laid his
career on the line, perhaps even laid his life on the line.
"The day is coming," he said, "when all God's
children, white and black, will join hands in worship and service. And that day
is upon us."
The congregation left in shock. People couldn't understand
how their mild, housebroken preacher could suddenly have been filled with such
fire. On the way home, it occurred to Al what had happened. "Kids,"
he said, "remember how sometimes I go up to my study to write about the
Holy Spirit?"
One of the children said, "Yeah, but Daddy, what's the
Holy Spirit all about?"
Al said, "We got a good picture today, in church."
They saw the power of God, pushing us to a day when every
hand shall join in mission, when every voice shall join in praising the Lord.
It is no empty promise.
Why, that power was given to us right over there ... at the
baptismal font.
William G. Carter
______________________
9: God's Getting
Better at It
Since the beginning God has attempted to get people's
attention and to call them into a commitment to live with principles, values,
and sense of sacredness that God wants from all humanity. Sometimes the people
heard and responded to God, and sometimes they ignored God.
God kept trying. God kept working at getting their
attention. I heard about a little girl who sort of understands that about God.
She was sitting on her grandfather's lap as he read her a bedtime story. From
time to time, she would take her eyes off the book and reach up to touch his
wrinkled cheek. She was alternately stroking her own cheek, then his again.
Finally she spoke up, "Grandpa, did God make you?"
"Yes, Sweetheart," he answered, "God made me
a long time ago."
"Oh," she paused, "Grandpa, did God make me
too?""Yes, indeed, honey," he said, "God made you just a little while ago."
Feeling their respective faces again, she observed,
"God's getting better at it, isn't he?"
God got better at it. After untold efforts to win our allegiance
and our hearts, God took on human form, walking among us and living with us so
that we would understand. It is in the living, breathing person of Jesus that
we really see all things we call holy, such as forgiveness, sharing, joy,
vision, courage, perseverance, and especially love. We might think we
understand love, for example, but when we receive totally unconditional love
from another person, love takes on a completely new meaning for us. Jesus shows
us the ultimate example of love, namely, God's love. Seeing this example in the
flesh makes all the difference in the world for us.
Lane Boyd, What's So Important about Jesus?
______________________
10: Three times:
Too many people come to Church three times primarily. They're
Baptized, they get married, and they have their funeral service at the Church.
The first time they throw water on you, the second time rice, the third time
dirt!
11: "Have you found Jesus?"
A drunk stumbles across a baptismal service on Sunday afternoon down
by the river. He proceeds to walk down into the water and stand next to the
Preacher. The minister turns and notices the old drunk and says, "Mister,
Are you ready to find Jesus?" The drunk looks back and says, "Yes,
Preacher. I sure am." The minister then dunks the fellow under the water
and pulls him right back up. "Have you found Jesus?" the preacher
asked. "No, I didn't!" said the drunk. The preacher then dunks him
under for quite a bit longer, brings him up and says, "Now, brother, have
you found Jesus?” “No, I did not, Reverend." The preacher in disgust holds
the man under for at least 30 seconds t his time brings him out of the water
and says in a harsh tone, "My God, have you found Jesus yet?” The old
drunk wipes his eyes and says to the preacher... "Are you sure this is
where he fell in?"
MORE ILLUSTRATIONS:
Water has been in the news a lot recently, at least in the
forms of snow and ice. Winter storms and snow literally stopped traffic in many
parts of the country. And as much as we try to forge through to get to work or
school, sometimes we have to stop and respect what the water around us is
doing. Water is part of the drama of our life. It brings life, but not enough
or too much can bring destruction. Let us focus on the life giving power of
clean, fresh water.
There are two very different ways to think about baptism. The first approach recognizes the time of baptism as a saving moment in which the person being baptized accepts the love and forgiveness of God. The person then considers herself "saved." She may grow in the faith through the years, but nothing which she will experience after her baptism will be as important as her baptism. She always will be able to recall her baptism as the time when her life changed.
There are two very different ways to think about baptism. The first approach recognizes the time of baptism as a saving moment in which the person being baptized accepts the love and forgiveness of God. The person then considers herself "saved." She may grow in the faith through the years, but nothing which she will experience after her baptism will be as important as her baptism. She always will be able to recall her baptism as the time when her life changed.
The second approach wouldn't disagree with any of that, but would add to it significantly. This idea affirms baptism as the time when God's love and forgiveness are experienced. It also recognizes baptism as a time of change. However, where the first approach isolates the act of baptism as the most important moment, the second approach understands baptism more as a beginning. While it is true that in the waters of baptism God laid claim on our lives, it is also true that we spend the rest of our lives trying to figure out what that means. The first understanding often overlooks the journey which follows baptism.
_______________________
Patience is not a very well-regarded virtue these days...
__________________________
Reasons for Jesus submitting to Baptism
1. To
fulfill all Righteousness: To be consecrated to God and approved by God.
2. The public announcement of the arrival of the Messiah and the inception of His ministry.
3. Identification with human sin and identification of himself with the people's movement toward God.
4. To be an example to his followers.2. The public announcement of the arrival of the Messiah and the inception of His ministry.
3. Identification with human sin and identification of himself with the people's movement toward God.
Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com
______________________
12. Welcome To a Journey
The story is told of a pastor's words to a baby shortly
after he had baptized her. No doubt, the minister was speaking as much to the
congregation as to the infant. "Little sister, by this act of baptism, we
welcome you to a journey that will take your whole life. This isn't the end.
It's the beginning of God's experiment with your life. What God will make of
you, we know not. Where God will take you, surprise you, we cannot say. This we
do know and this we say -- God is with you."
And God will be with us as we live out our baptism.
William B. Kincaid, III, And then Came the Angel, CSS
Publishing Company
_____________________13. Unconditional Love
I don't remember the first time I walked, but I imagine it
went something like this: I stood at one end of the room with my mother and my
father was a full three steps away. Before that day I could probably do the
kind of creative dangling that almost looks like walking, when somebody held me
by the hands and shifted me from side to side as my feet barely touched the
floor. But this is the day when I will try a real honest walk on my own - all
holds barred - with just two eager parents, miles apart, there to cheer me on.
So I set out, wobbling at first, stumbling at second, but unmistakably making it
on my own from one set of arms to the other. And then I imagine that my father
lifted me high in the air with an exultant shout as if no one in human history
had ever walked before. Then, after numerous kisses and exclamations, I
probably felt like the most loved, most marvelous boy in all the world.
After a time I could walk with more assurance but, for some reason, I didn't receive so much praise. In fact, I can't remember the last time that anyone praised me for walking across a room. So I had to do other things. Simply walking just wasn't good enough anymore. I had to strive to make a splash in other ways, just to get back to that feeling, that feeling of being noticed, of being picked up with a shout of delight, of being valued.
After a time I could walk with more assurance but, for some reason, I didn't receive so much praise. In fact, I can't remember the last time that anyone praised me for walking across a room. So I had to do other things. Simply walking just wasn't good enough anymore. I had to strive to make a splash in other ways, just to get back to that feeling, that feeling of being noticed, of being picked up with a shout of delight, of being valued.
For the most part, we don't have much experience with unconditional love, so we try to create conditions in which we will feel worthy of love. We do not entirely trust love without reasons, so we strive to create reasons for the love received.
And in all that striving, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that my parents did not praise me because of my accomplishments. Rather, they praised my accomplishments because they loved me, and would have loved me if there were no accomplishments to praise.
If parents sometimes have something like unconditional love, a love without reasons, for their children, how much more so does God love God's children? All of our striving to try to win something that is ours already. God values you, not because you have distinguished yourself in some way, but because you are God's beloved.
Martin Copenhaver, Whispered in Your Ear
___________________________________
14. Jesus'
Consecration
Some years ago, a Scottish minister told his congregation
about dreaming he had died. When he came to the pearly gates, to his dismay, he
would be denied entrance until he presented his credentials. Proudly the Pastor
articulated the number of sermons preached and the prominent pulpits occupied.
But Saint Peter said no one had heard them in heaven. The discouraged servant
enumerated his community involvement. He was told they were not recorded.
Sorrowfully, the pastor turned to leave, when Peter said, "Stay a moment,
and tell me, are you the man who fed the sparrows?"
"Yes," the Scotsman replied, "but what does
that have to do with it?"
"Come in," said Saint Peter, "the Master of
the sparrows wants to thank you."
Here is the pertinent, though often overlooked, point: great
and prominent positions indicate skill and capacity, but small services suggest
the depth of one's consecration.
And so it is with Jesus' Baptism. He submits to John's
baptism of repentance even though he himself was perfect and had no need to
repent. Jesus identified with our sins by being baptized. He joined in the
popular movement of his day. It was a grass roots movement started by a desert
monk named John the Baptist. John was calling for the repentance of Israel.
Jesus chose to be baptized because he wanted to participate with the people in
their desires to be close to God.
Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com. Adapted from G. Curtis Jones,
1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching, Nashville: Broadman, p. 241.
_____________________
16. Life as a Piece
of Music
Think of your life as a piece of music. Life in the
microwave world provides you the staccato notes, the quick and sometimes
dissonant voice. By itself, it is confusing and lacking in substance or form.
It may even seem chaotic and annoying.
A long baptismal obedience in the same direction provides
the sustenuto, the sustained voice, the continuo line. It gives body and
substance to the piece. By itself, it could become tedious or dull.
But when the sustained voice undergirds and supports the
staccato notes -- when life in the microwave world is sustained and supported
by God's gift of a long baptismal obedience in the same direction -- then life
is a magnificent fugue -- beautiful, rich, multi-textured, varied; surprising
yet graceful and grace-filled.
Such a life is beautiful music; played and sung to the glory
of the composer God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, into whose eternal name we
are baptized!
Mark WM Radecke, God in Flesh Made Manifest, CSS Publishing
____________________17. We Draw the Circle Too Small
Roy Lloyd, a Lutheran minister, once interviewed Mother
Teresa. He said that one of his questions and one of her answers stands out in
his mind as "a bright sun burning in my mind." He asked her,
"What's the biggest problem in the world today?" And she answered,
without hesitation, "The biggest problem in the world today is that we
draw the circle of our family too small. We need to draw it larger every
day."
With all that is evil and wrong in this world today it would
be easy to answer that question with a hundred different events. That's what
makes Mother Teresa's response so jilting. She is saying that the problem is
not so much with the world as it is with us. We need to see more people as our
neighbor than we are currently doing.
I see Jesus doing this in his baptism. In his baptism he
included us in his righteousness. He identified with humanity, with our need to
be cleansed, and our need to be made pure. If you have been baptized you have
been drawn, by Jesus' baptism, into the circle of God's family.
Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com.
____________________
18. What Will You Do
with Your Gift?
There is a folk tale from India that summarizes our thoughts
this morning. It seems that there was a good king who ruled wisely and who
ruled well. One day the king called his three daughters together and told them
he was leaving on a long journey. "I wish to learn about God, so I will
need to go away and spend a long time in prayer. In my absence I will leave the
three of you in charge. Before I leave I would like to leave each of you with a
gift; a gift I pray will help you learn how to wisely use your power to
rule." Then he placed in each of their hands a single grain of rice.
The first daughter tied a long golden thread around her grain of rice and placed it in a beautiful crystal box. Every day she looked at it and reminded herself that she was powerful. The second daughter took one look at the common grain of rice, and threw it away, thus squandering her father's mysterious gift. The third daughter just looked at her grain of rice for a long, long time - until she finally understood what to do with it.
*********
From Tony Kadavil's Collection:
1: Identified with victims:
When leprosy broke
out among the people of the Hawaiian Islands in the middle of the 19th century,
the government authorities responded by establishing a leper colony on the
remote island of Molokai. The victims were snatched by force from their
families and sent to this island to perish. However, moved by their terrible
plight, a young Belgian priest, Damien De Veuster, asked permission from his
superiors to minister to them. Straightaway he realized that there was only one
effective way to do this, and that was to go and live among them. Having got
permission, he went to Molokai. At first, he tried to minister to the lepers
while maintaining a certain distance. But he soon realized that he had to live
among them in order to gain their trust. As a result he contracted leprosy
himself. The reaction of the lepers was immediate and wholehearted. They
embraced him and took him to their hearts. He was now one of them. There was no
need, no point any more, in keeping his distance. The lepers had someone who
could talk with authority about leprosy, about brokenness, about rejection and
public shame. Today’s gospel tells us how, by receiving the baptism of
repentance, Jesus became identified with the sinners whom he had come to save
(Flor McCarthy in Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies).
2: The film Gandhi
is a three-hour epic, depicting the life of
Mahatma Gandhi in India. In order to lead the oppressed people of India to
freedom from British rule, Gandhi adopted non-violent means such as fasting
from food, vigils of prayer, peaceful marches, protests and civil disobedience.
One of the reasons why Gandhi put on a loincloth and fasted from food, almost
to the point of death, was to show solidarity with the Indian people, identifying
with them in their physical sufferings. This finally brought independence to
India. Jesus’ baptism, as described in today’s Gospel, was his identification
with God’s chosen people who became aware of their sinful lives and need of
God’s forgiveness.
(Vima Dasan).
3: Called to
Service:
The late Nelson
Mandela will go down as one of the greatest leaders of this century. He was
instrumental in ending apartheid and bringing about a multiracial society in
South Africa. Mandela belonged to the Xhosa people, and grew up in the
Transkei. But how did he come to play such a crucial role in the history of his
country? In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, he tells us that all the
currents of his life were taking him away from the Transkei. Yet he had no
epiphany, no singular revelation, no moment of truth. He says: “A steady
accumulation of insights helped me to see that my duty was to the people as a
whole, not to a particular section of it. The memory of a thousand indignities
produced in me anger, rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that
imprisoned my people. There was no particular day on which I said, ‘Henceforth,
I will devote myself to the liberation of my people’; instead, I simply found
myself doing so, and could not do otherwise” (Flor McCarthy in Sunday and Holy
Day Liturgies).
St. Louis IX (1226-70), insisted that the grand celebration of his birthday should be
held on the day of his Baptism, and not on his birthday proper. His
argument was that Baptism was the beginning of a life that would continue for
eternity in the everlasting glory of Heaven.
