The fullness of Life—the gift of Baptism
I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I anoint you with the oil of Salvation as Christ was anointed priest prophet and king, so may you always live. These powerful words of life uniting us forever in the Trinitarian love beyond all measure are the linchpin of faith—foundational. We begin our faith journey seeking to understand what baptism by water, the Oil of Salvation, and into the sacred life of the Trinity holds for us. While our sins are washed clean we know that we can fail to live sinless. Baptism reminds us that we are held to the life of the Trinity by extending life-giving forgiveness—the same that we receive from the Lord. Forgiveness is such a key to life; it breaks the darkness and brings in light and joy. That is what Isaiah is telling us when he describes the coming of the Messiah in our first reading for this Sunday’s Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
“I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.” (Is 42:6-7)
God wants us out of those dark dungeons of harboring—he tells us forgiveness is his light in our baptism; it is the hallmark of the mission of the teachings and healings of Jesus’ ministry. He made it his mission to heal and empower people through the forgiveness of sin. He began his mission as we hear in the gospel of Mark this Sunday—by baptism–just like us.
“Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.
On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’’’ (Mk 1:10-11)
But why was he baptized, we know that he was not sinful? Jesus allowed John to push him under the water of the river as submission and witness to God. He also takes on our sins to prove to us that we are worthy of him. Yet how many of us truly believe they are worthy of Jesus? It’s impossible to ever feel truly worthy, but I believe that is the point, if pause EVERYDAY and reflect on just what Jesus Christ accomplished in his messianic mission of Jesus Christ, and reflect on what He is doing for us—every day and in every way– it is a declaration of how loved we are. Then our goal becomes striving to be less unworthy of His love.
The meaning of OUR baptism into Jesus the Christ and the Holy Spirit is based on reconciling and submitting to the Spirit of God, going into the depth of our humanity and finding the goodness that is there within each one of us. It is God’s grace at work in our goodness. We need to live our Baptism in Him— and live His mission of forgiveness.
Isn’t it time to release the paralyzing pain, and live in the goodness that God intended for each one of us? Guilt, shame, and harboring resentment disappear by his love shining in us. When is the last time you availed yourself to the Sacrament of Reconciliation? It is a re-entry into healing through His love and becoming less unworthy of that love. AND it feels wonderful, refreshing, and evokes hope as we encounter Him.
There is another dynamic to our Baptism into the Lord that He often teaches and not readily lived by us. We have been baptized into a sacred heritage of a community to care for one another and that care takes place as we look beyond our personal needs and to those that help build our faith family in unity and love. That is our mission as a sacred parish in the Lord named in honor of our patroness Saint Helena. For she sought to find the symbol of His immense sacrifice, the Cross of the Crucifixion, so that it may be always and forever recognized and revered and provide us with hope through Christ’s great love for us.
There are so many ways to show that love in daily life, how we respect all children of God, treat our planet and natural resources, learn to care for our elderly, children, respect for all life—from conception to natural death. Our Mass is a journey of forgiveness and healing—into the light and goodness of Christ with us. It begins with the communal penitential rite where we ask the Lord to have mercy, it includes the faith family unifier, the Lord’s Prayer to remind us of how we are to forgive others, Then just before the Lord heals us with the gift of His Real Presence, in Eucharist, we offer the Sign of Peace to one another to show we are reconciled and one in him. And we are then sent out to live in that oneness so God will declare about us—you are my beloved children with whom I am well pleased live in my forgiving love.
Blessed Baptism, Fr. Gordon