Homily: Feast of the Baptism of the Lord 2014

I wish you all a Merry Christmas.  For our secular culture, Christmas is long past, but for the Church we celebrate for an entire liturgical season.  On this final Sunday of the Christmas season, we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.  What’s the connection between Christmas and Baptism—between Christ’s birth and his Baptism? 

At Christmas, when Christ was born, we believe that God, who loves us so much, plunged himself into our world; the omnipotent God became one of us, sharing our humanity. 

At Christmas, God was plunged into humanity and shares our humanity; when we are baptized, we are plunged into the life of God; through the waters of baptism we became sharers in his divinity.

So this feast of the Baptism, is really like the crowning of all of our Christmas celebrations because it points to the reason why God became man at all.  God became man at Christmas and shared in our humanity 

precisely that we might become sharers in his divinity. 

Something so amazing it is hardly describable happens at baptism.  Yes, we are washed clean of sin, yes we are made members of the Church.  But we believe we become sharers in God’s very life.  Just like we receive biological life from our parents; through baptism we truly receive new supernatural and divine life.

When I visit down in the school, the kids are usually pretty excited to share the best gift they received for Christmas.  Yet, the gift of eternal life, which we receive through the Sacraments of the Catholic Church is the most important gift we can ever receive. 

Pope Francis quipped recently, “How many Christians know the date of their baptism?”  Most of us know the day and the hour of our birth, but Baptism is more important.  It is when we were born again. 

Today would be a good day, if you don’t know, to find out.  Dig up your baptismal certificate, notice the names of your parents, your godparents, the priest or deacon who baptized you.  Then mark the date of your baptism on your calendar, and make a special act of thanksgiving to God every year on the anniversary of your baptism, for the gift of faith and eternal life we have received through Jesus Christ.

Pope Saint Leo the Great would give special catechism lessons to the newly baptized.  He once said, "Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God's own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God." 

Never forget! Recalling that we are baptized should bring us joy when we are sad, and strength when we are tempted. A powerful way to fight off temptation is to recall our baptism.  To say to ourselves, “wait, I’m a Christian, I’m not supposed to do that; I’m not supposed to talk like that, I’m supposed to act like Christ.” 

When we are Baptized we become Christian.  Christian is more than just a label; like belonging to a club; you can get kicked out of a club, or lose interest in a club; but once Christian, always Christian; we are Christians to our souls.  There are some who are fallen-away Christian, I know a few, and you probably do as well.  But, once a Christian, always a Christian. 

For Baptism is more than just a symbolic ceremony where we express our faith; in Baptism, as he does in all the Sacraments, God does something for us, that we cannot do ourselves.  He gives us eternal life.  That’s not something you can merely pick up at the grocery store or find at a garage sale.

You simply cannot reach out and grab and take for yourself the gift of eternal life and godliness.  That’s what Adam and Eve did to get us in trouble in the first place.  We simply cannot go to heaven by our own efforts.  That’s why we needed a savior.  And through baptism we receive salvation.

It is not until baptism can we truly call ourselves children of God.  Sure, when we are born we have something in common with the animals; we are creatures of God.  But in baptism we become children of God.  As we emerge from the waters of baptism, the Father says the same words as we heard in the Gospel today, “You are my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. 

The Father embraces us no matter what our former lives were like, no matter how cruel, or selfish, or self-centered, or perverted, baptism changes us and makes pleasing in the eyes of God.

One of the reasons we fall back into some of our sins, is because we forget the dignity of our baptism.  So, if we ever start feeling down on ourselves, when things in life aren’t going as we planned or hoped, maybe a troubled marriage, or not getting the job you wanted. At those low moments we are extremely vulnerable to sin, and it is extremely important at those times to recall the great dignity of our baptism and the great eternal destiny for which God created us.  We often fall into sin because we forget or ignore the great dignity of our baptism, and the great strength that comes from God through baptismal grace.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, "The devil may try to use the hurts of life and sometimes our own mistakes, to make you feel it is impossible that Jesus really loves you. This is a danger for all of us. And so sad, because it is completely the opposite of what Jesus is really wanting, waiting to tell you.  Not only that He loves you, but even more..He longs for you. He loves you always, even when you don't feel worthy.."

When we recall our baptism, we are recalling the embrace of God.  God embraces the sinner and gives them purity, God embraces the weak and gives them virtue, God embraces the doubtful and gives them faith, God embraces the dead and gives them life.

May we recall our baptism with great joy, and with great joy live out our baptismal call, in imitating Jesus in all things, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.