A few years ago, on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Cardinal Dolan of New York was reflecting upon an experience he had the previous week. The Cardinal relayed how the week prior, he was up in Buffalo for the funeral of one of his brother bishops, Bishop Bernard McLaughlin who was born in 1912. Bishop McClaughlin had died at the venerable age of 102, he would have been that year a priest of 80 years and a bishop for 47 years. And as the Cardinal approached the casket of his brother bishop, he thought of all the wonderful things that the Bishop had done and accomplished and seen: the abundant gifts that filled his life, the honors he received, and the good work for the Lord of which the good bishop had been an instrument. But as the Cardinal approached the bishop’s casket, and prepared to sprinkle it with holy water, he thought how nothing, nothing that Bishop McLaughlin did compared to what happened to him, what God did for him, when he was two weeks old, when his mom and dad and grandparents carried him to church to be baptized.
Cardinal Dolan thought of this as he was blessing the casket while utter those beautiful prayer from the funeral ritual “In the waters of baptism Bernard died with Christ and rose with him to new life”. The power, the significance of the sacrament of baptism cannot be overvalued. What happens to us at baptism, what God does for us in baptism, is the most important thing that will ever happen to us.
Last week, we celebrated the great feast of the Epiphany, in which, the light of the Christmas star and the gifts of the shepherds reveal that the babe born at Bethlehem is no ordinary baby. He is king, priest, and Savior.
Well, the early Church saw today’s feast, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, as a sort of second Epiphany in the life of Our Lord.
Where in the first Epiphany, Jesus was revealed as king, priest, and savior. Today’s feast reveals him to be God. Much like the Christmas star, and those gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh reveal something of Jesus’ identity, now the Holy Spirit descending upon him in the form of a dove, and the voice of the father from heaven reveal that Jesus Christ truly is the divine Son of God. He is God.
And when we come forward for baptism, we are testifying, we are proclaiming our belief that Jesus is God, that he gives me new life through these saving waters of baptism.
“Who indeed is the victor over the world” asks John in the second reading, “but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God”
This week, we saw a lot of ugliness in the world—and a lot of irrational rhetoric. But, I did see a wonderful quote that helped put things in perspective for me. Patricia Heaton, one of the rare Catholic Hollywood actresses, from Bay Village, Ohio by the way, said, “ if you’re a common sense person, you probably don’t feel you have a home in this world right now. If you’re a Christian, you know that you were never meant to”. It’s a fitting quote for us today. It’s not saying that we shouldn’t be involved in political life, or we shouldn’t stand up for justice, but it’s a reminder that we must never lose sight of the real reason we are here. We’re not here to transform the world into some sort of utopia through any means, but to prepare our souls for the world to come. To be in the world, but not OF the world, like Our Lord. Sometimes earthly affairs and anxieties cause us to lose sight of our eternal goal. Keeping our eyes on heaven often comes with great difficulty, but the saints show us that this is possible—it is possible to make our souls union with God, our highest priority.
Tomorrow/today at the 11am mass, three souls who have been participating in our parish RCIA program will enter through the Church doors for the Rite of Acceptance. And I will ask them two questions. I’ll ask them What do you ask of God’s Church? They answered: Faith. And then I’ll ask “what does Faith offer you” And they’ll answer “Eternal Life.”
What a wonderful amazing thing, that these three people from diverse backgrounds, jobs, and families, will come here, because they believe that through the Church, through the Sacraments of the Church, they will receive eternal life.
Our very first session of RCIA I asked them, why are you here? How did the path of your life lead here? Some said, I want to know more about the Catholic faith. I want to be Catholic. I want to share the faith of my family. I have come to recognize that the Catholic Faith is true.
For many of us: we were baptized as infants and received our religious instruction as children. But, I think each of us realizes that being Catholic is not just a choice that was made for us, when we were baptized as infants. It is a choice we make daily--to cooperate with the grace of our baptism daily. A choice to believe and profess all the Church teaches. A commitment of our lives daily to God’s care. A choice to avoid the things that are harmful to our souls. A decision to cooperate with God so that the grace of baptism is not stifled in our lives, but is allowed to unfold and blossom daily.
Again, this ritual that Bruce, Angela, and Amanda will undergo tomorrow is called the Rite of Acceptance. It’s one of the rituals that proceeds their reception of the Sacrament of Baptism and full initiation into the Church. And it’s called the Rite of Acceptance for a number of reasons. One, because they are accepting the teachings, and practice of the Church, they are accepting that the faith of the Church leads to eternal life. Secondly, it’s called the rite of acceptance because the church is accepting them into the order of catechuments; we who are already baptized members of the Church are accepting the responsibility of praying for them, praying for their continual conversion and for their safety as they approach the waters of baptism and sacraments of initiation. Thirdly, it's a sign too, that God accepts them, God accepts them to become his children in the life of grace, He accepts them to receive His very life. So in addition to praying for them at Mass over the next few months, remember them in your personal prayers from time to time; that those preparing for baptism, which will be for them, the most important day of your life, may respond well to God working in their life.
Bruce, Angela and Amanda choose freely to be here tomorrow/today. But also because God HAS been working in their lives to bring them here. God has worked through the members of this parish saying yes to our baptismal call, God has been working through the testimony of our faithful parishioners to enkindle in our catechumens the fire of faith. They are here in answer to our prayers. So, continue to pray for them as they continue their journey towards full initiation in the Church at Easter. When you see them at Mass, greet them, let them know that you are praying for them.
In a few moments we will each personally recite the Profession of Faith. This is the faith of the Church, this is the faith of the Baptized. We are proud to profess it. We look forward to the day that our catechumens will profess it with us as full members of the Church, and that we stand together in the halls of heaven for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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