Today the Church
celebrates the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord. This brings to an end the
season of Christmas. The Church recalls Our Lord's second manifestation or
epiphany which occurred on the occasion of His baptism in the Jordan. Jesus
descended into the River to sanctify its waters and to give them the power to
beget sons of God. The event takes on the importance of a second creation in
which the entire Trinity intervenes.
In Matthew 3: 13 –
17 we hear the familiar story: “Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to
be baptized by him. John tried to prevent
him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now,
for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the
water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and coming upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with
whom I am well pleased.”
Most of us do only
know of our own baptism from pictures and the stories people tell us. When we were baptized, we were marked with
the cross drawn on our foreheads and this is the true sign of our faith. We were baptized and the stain of “original
sin” was removed from us and we became a child of God. Our baptism was not the same as Jesus’ in the
Jordan River and we are continually called to live out our baptismal call to be
a child of God. We are always loved and
cared about by our God. May we take some
time today to recall our baptism and to remember that we are a beloved child of
God and that God is pleased with us!
Pat Schifini, OSU
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