The Baptism of the Lord January 11, 2025

Last week we were reminded of an ancient tradition whereby, on the Feast of the Epiphany, three different manifestations or “showings forth” of Our Lord to the world were commemorated. That is, His adoration by the Magi, His Baptism in the Jordan River, and the first of His miracles, when He changed water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana.

     This weekend, the Church's Liturgy concentrates on the second of these great signs which reveal Our Lord's presence. The years have sped by – we are no longer at the Crib in Bethlehem in front of a new baby. Now Our Lord is a mature man, and He is about to begin His public ministry, that work of proclaiming the Gospel and offering Himself for poor sinners – the very reason He had been born in the first place. This public ministry is prepared for by Our Lord submitting to the baptism offered by his cousin, St John the Baptist.

     It is very easy for us to get confused here. We tend to think of our own baptism and what that was for – our being set free from original sin, being made a temple for the Holy Trinity, given the gifts of faith, hope and charity, and becoming a member of the Catholic Church. Obviously, Our Lord's Baptism did not achieve for Him the same as it did for us. What then was the point of it? Our Lord joins the people who are going out to John the Baptist in a gesture of repentance, in sorrow for their sins. He joins them, not because He too is a sinner, but in order to show us that this is the only true and authentic way in which to approach our heavenly Father.

     Our Lord goes to the Baptist to reveal to us that at the heart of the Mystery of our salvation lies mercy, the mercy of a loving and forgiving Father. Our Lord, through His act of humility, calls us to share in His relationship with the Father, which is announced from the heavens. Through our reception of God's mercy, we too become His beloved sons and daughters. As Our Lord acknowledges His Father as the fount of mercy, so we too are taught never to hesitate to do the same.                                                                                    ~ Fr. Paul Dobson