The Baptism of the Lord

 UPDATED: 9 January - to include my homily notes

Baptism of Christ, Bartolome Murillo, c. 1665

The Christmas season ends this Sunday, January 10th, with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.  

Here's a beautiful reflection on that from the Church's prayer book, the Breviary.  It's a bit complex, but reveals the power and importance of the sacrament of baptism in our Christian life and why it is such an amazing gift that we should never take for granted.   It reminds us just what it means to say that we become sons and daughters of God by baptism and how we belong to Christ, no longer the Evil One, once we are immersed in the sacred baptismal waters through the power of Christ's Cross.   It's from an ancient sermon by 3rd century martyr St. Hippolytus

Below that reflection are my homily notes for my "quarantine homily" (the one I have to do in print while finishing my recovery from Covid).

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From a sermon on the Epiphany attributed to Saint Hippolytus, priest and martyr

(Nn. 2.6-8 10: PG 10, 854. 858-859. 862)

Water and the Spirit

That Jesus should come and be baptized by John is surely cause for amazement. To think of the infinite river that gladdens the city of God being bathed in a poor little stream of the eternal, the unfathomable fountainhead that gives life to all men being immersed in the shallow waters of this transient world! He who fills all creation, leaving no place devoid of his presence, he who is incomprehensible to the angels and hidden from the sight of man, came to be baptized because it was his will. And behold, the heavens opened and a voice said: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”

The beloved Father begets love, and spiritual light generates light inaccessible. In his divine nature he is my only Son, though he was known as the son of Joseph. This is my beloved Son. Though hungry himself, he feeds thousands; though weary, he refreshes those who labor. He has no place to lay his head yet holds all creation in his hand. By his passion [inflicted on him by others], he frees us from the passions [unleashed by our disobedience]; by receiving a blow on the cheek he gives the world its liberty; by being pierced in the side he heals the wound of Adam.

I ask you now to pay close attention, for I want to return to that fountain of life and contemplate its healing waters at their source.

The Father of immortality sent his immortal Son and Word into the world; he came to us men to cleanse us with water and the Spirit. To give us a new birth that would make our bodies and souls immortal, he breathed into us the spirit of life and armed us with incorruptibility. Now if we become immortal, we shall also be divine; and if we become divine after rebirth in baptism through water and the Holy Spirit, we shall also be coheirs with Christ after the resurrection of the dead.

Therefore, in a herald’s voice I cry: Let peoples of every nation come and receive the immortality that flows from baptism. This is the water that is linked to the Spirit, the water that irrigates Paradise, makes the earth fertile, gives growth to plants, and brings forth living creatures. In short, this is the water by which a man receives new birth and life, the water in which even Christ was baptized, the water into which the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove.

Whoever goes down into these waters of rebirth with faith renounces the devil and pledges himself to Christ. He repudiates the enemy and confesses that Christ is God, throws off his servitude, and is raided to filial status. He comes up from baptism resplendent as the sun, radiant in his purity, but above all, he comes as a son of God and a coheir with Christ. To him and to his most holy and life-giving Spirit be glory and power now and for ever. Amen.

 

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My homily notes (based partly on above) 

 

Here are the Scripture readings of the feast day.

 

Homily – January 10, 2021 – Feast of the Baptism of the Lord – Year B – Quarantine series

Since I am currently in quarantine during my Covid recovery, this is a written homily instead of preached.  So I’m going into a little more detail.  Also, I want to recommend reading my recent blog post containing a beautiful ancient homily on the significance of baptism: sccrparish.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-baptism-of-lord.html.  There are parts of that I really want to highlight. 

But first, can’t emphasize enough that we are still celebrating the Christmas mysteries today – and the Baptism of the Lord is one of them.  Unlike our Protestant brethren, who typically celebrate Christmas as a one-day event, the Church has always reflected on the beautifully interlocked and interrelated mysteries of the whole Christmas season: the Nativity (birth) of Our Lord and Savior; the Annunciation where Mary become the Mother of God; the Lord being made known to the gentiles at Epiphany; the “marriage” between God and mankind as the Word of God becomes flesh and dwells among us, reflected in the miracle of changing water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana; and the ongoing miracle of the Word becoming flesh on the altar at every holy Mass.  These mysteries are so deep that it is hard to fit them into one short season of just about three weeks.  It is impossible to understand one without the others.

Before the calendar revision in the 1960s and 1970s, Christmas season lasted about three weeks longer than presently, and I think there was wisdom in that!  One good source of reading and contemplation regarding the Christmas mysteries is the beautiful “Office of Readings” of the Church’s breviary (universal prayer book).  The readings for the weeks between Christmas and the Baptism of the Lord are especially profound.  You can view them online for the current week at https://universalis.com/readings.htm.  The Universalis apostolate also have an inexpensive smartphone app, which lets you read them for any day at any time.

So today I want to focus a little bit on the significance of baptism, especially in the light of St. Hippolytus’ beautiful reflection (above).   Because most Catholic are baptized as infants, there is an unfortunate tendency to look upon this sacrament as little more than a “welcome to the world” ceremony to show off a cute new baby.  Its significance runs much deeper than that.  I recommend listening carefully to all the texts of the prayers the next time you attend a baptism.  (Unfortunately, I can’t post them online because our bishops have copyrighted them).

First, we remember that baptism is the gateway sacrament.  Without this first of the sacraments, there is no real life in Christ.  All sacraments involve some sort of efficacious sign.  That is, there is a (non-arbitrary) symbol that – by God’s grace, not our own efforts – takes on an effective power.  The symbol “does what is says,” so to speak.  So, in the case of the pouring of water, that is ordinarily used to cleanse the body from dirt or impurities, or to refresh us, quench our thirst, and maintain our life.  In the case of baptism, when the proper formula is said and the water is poured or sprinkled over the head, then God cleanses us from original sin (the effect of the disobedience to God of all mankind) and gives us the beginnings of new life – not biological life, but rather supernatural life, a sharing in the very divine life of the Holy Trinity.

That is just the beginning of the mystery.  Our Lord Jesus was baptized not because He needed the sacrament in any way, but rather because we need it.  In the beautiful Gospel passage from St. Mark, we see a sort of “window into heaven” literally open up, as the heavens are rent open and the voice of God the Father thunders down.  That is a reminder that, for those who are regenerated (“born again” – yes, that is a Catholic concept – see below) from the moment of baptism onward, we are destined for Heavenly life.

We say in our creed that Jesus is the “only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages…”  That’s a reminder that Jesus is, always has been, and always will be the Divine Son of God and God Himself.  In baptism, something quite extraordinary happens.  We, who are merely finite creatures of God, become by the grace of that sacrament, sons and daughters of God, Who is the source of all life.  We are “adopted,” so to speak as His sons, so that by baptism, we are given a share in the Sonship of Jesus Christ.  That is, we share in His privileged relationship to God the Father.  This is all true not because of our nature (who we are) but only by God’s grace and self-gift.   As His sons and daughters, we become heir to the privileges of His only begotten Son, so that we can one day share in His Resurrection.  (Every Catholic funeral reminds us of that baptismal promise).

St Hippolytus has a beautiful line, “In a herald’s voice I cry: Let peoples of every nation come and receive the immortality that flows from baptism… the water that is linked to the Spirit, the water that irrigates Paradise…by which a man receives new birth and life.”  This is a reminder that it is Christ’s will  that every person on earth be baptized – but He wants us, the members of His Church, to be the ones to carry that out.  That is why He entrusted this mission to His Apostles as He ascended into Heaven.

It is important to understand this concept of “new birth,” because many Protestants speak of being “born again.”  What they sometimes mean is that there is some kind of event (often an emotionally charged one, such as ‘giving one’s life to the Lord’) that changes a person.  While it is true that we need to be faithful to our baptism, and constantly re-commit ourselves to living it out, it is baptism itself which causes us to be ‘born again’ by the Holy Spirit– no matter what age at which it occurs, not an emotional private prayer.

The last paragraph of St. Hippolytus bears some explanation.  Many of the Church fathers speak of “going down into the waters of rebirth” or “coming up out of the waters.”  In the early Church, when it was mostly adults being baptized, the body was typically completely immersed and held under water.  This was a symbol of the death of the old (sinful) man and re-birth of the man now made new in the image of Christ His Savior.  While baptism is now typically done by pouring or sprinkling rather than immersion, the theology is the same.

St. Hippolytus refers to renunciation of the devil and pledging oneself to Christ.  This is no mere superstition.  That is in fact the purpose of baptism.  The Church teaches that, until Christ comes again and the conquest of the Evil One is complete, the Devil is allowed a certain dominion over the material world.  As shocking as it sounds to modern ears (but it’s no less true because of that) as material creatures, until baptism we belong to the Devil.  It is this holy sacrament that snatches us out of the devil’s grip of sin and death as we are claimed for and by Jesus Christ our Redeemer. 

That is why it is so critically important to baptize as soon as possible, ideally within weeks after a child’s birth. 

In each baptism, the one receiving the sacrament must make the conscious decision to renounce the Devil and to live as a servant of and disciple of Jesus Christ for the rest of his life.  For an infant or a child below the age of reason, that commitment is made by the parent and sponsors (godparents) on his behalf, who have a serious spiritual responsibility before the Lord to help that child take that commitment seriously.  This is why parents should choose only godparents who actually practice their faith, rather than simply “going down the line” of relatives who have not yet “had a turn.”

When the baptized comes up from the baptismal waters, St. Hippolytus says that he “comes up … resplendent as the sun, radiant in His purity, but above all, … as a son of God and coheir with Christ.”  That alone is worth spending some time on today, reflecting on the undeserved and unmerited gift, and asking the Lord to increase in us gratitude for having given us baptism

One final reflection: Baptism is the beginning of the Christian life, not the end.  It is quite possible, by one’s own free choice, to lose the grace of baptism by deliberately turning toward sin and refusing to live in a manner befitting a son or daughter of God by failing to love Him and choosing to break His commandments.  Not everyone who is baptized automatically gets to Heaven.  For this reason, we must carefully guard the gift of baptism, and turn to the Lord in repentance in the sacrament of confession when we offend Him, so that we may remain sons and daughters of God in that all-important state of grace.