Sermon by Father Alex McAllister SDS    Index

Baptism of the Lord, year C—2004 Homily

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the inauguration of Jesus’ public ministry as given in the Gospel of Luke.

This account of his baptism has an extremely personal flavour. There is nothing to say that John even carried out the baptism. And there is the clear understanding that Jesus was baptised separately and after everyone else. There is a possible suggestion that it occurred in a private moment when Christ was alone.

I suppose this is to highlight the fact that Jesus wasn’t a sinner who came for a baptism of repentance like everybody else. We know, of course, that Jesus was without sin and therefore had no need of repentance. His baptism is therefore quite different in nature. It is a moment of approval and blessing and an inauguration of a new phase in his life.

The occasion of his baptism is similar to the Transfiguration which marked the movement from his ministry in Galilee to his journey up to Jerusalem to face his passion. At both these moments we hear the voice of the Father giving his approval in similar words. This is my Beloved Son.

We shouldn’t think that since Jesus was divine he had no need for encouragement. He was both human and divine and in his humanity he needed just as much encouragement we would have done. And he must have been greatly encouraged when he received this warm reassurance of the Father’s love and a firm expression of approval.

We have noticed that Luke separates the baptism of Jesus from that of the people—he was baptised after them. Theirs was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

But Jesus has no sins to repent; instead he took on the sins of all mankind and ultimately paid for them all thus making God’s forgiveness available to all who sought it. He came among us as a man precisely for this purpose—to free us from our sins.

Luke separates the baptism of the people and the baptism of Jesus to emphasise the difference between them.

He also places the descent of the Holy Spirit and the voice of the Father after a period of prayer by Jesus. It is made clear that these things are something specifically for him. His baptism is a baptism of quite a different order. It is the inauguration of his public ministry and the beginning of his proclamation of the Good News.

Baptism is the first and most fundamental of all the sacraments. It marks our freedom from sin, it brings us into membership of the Church and it inaugurates us into the new life of the Spirit. It is our most precious inheritance.

I remember hearing about some Pope or other being congratulated shortly after we has enthroned by someone who said, ‘I suppose that was the most important day of your whole life?’ ‘Oh no,’ said the Pope, ‘the most important day of my life was the day of my Baptism.’

This is the same for all of us. The day of our baptism is the most important day of our whole lives for on that day we entered on a new life—a new life in Christ. Practically none of us remember that day because it occurred in infancy—I don’t suppose very many of us could even give the precise date.

But those who received baptism in adulthood know what I am talking about. They made the decision personally for themselves and they know what a difference it has made. They know that they now live for Christ and not for themselves.

I am certainly not speaking against infant baptism, but because this is the norm for most Christians we often fail to take into account what a dramatic sacrament baptism is.

It is a washing away of sin, it is the rite of membership in the Church, but most of all it makes us an adopted child of God living a new life in Christ. It is through baptism that we are destined for heaven.

Christ began his saving mission in the waters of the River Jordan. It was an auspicious day for all mankind, but probably most of those who were present did not notice much difference from any other day.

But it was from that baptism with the approval of the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus embarked on his public ministry. From then on he preached the good news to the poor, he brought sight to the blind, he healed the sick, he multiplied the loaves and he taught us how to live the way God wants us to live.

His earthly ministry lasted just three years and then Jesus faced his passion. And from that Cross on Calvary and out of the tomb in the hillside he brought about our salvation. But Christ’s public ministry is not over; it is continued by us, his followers, his apostles in the world today.

We too have been baptised and it was an auspicious day for us, even though most of us were unable to realise it at the time. And we too have a public ministry as Christ’s ambassadors here on earth.

Yes, through baptism the way to eternal life has been opened up. But more than this, through it we were adopted as God’s sons and daughters and have a ministry in the world to spread the Good News throughout the earth.

Unfortunately, we don’t always live up to the high standards one would expect of a baptised Christian. But, thankfully, we have access to the sacrament of reconciliation through which our baptismal purity is restored.

Our vocation is a high one, its responsibilities are many, but the rewards that come with it are even greater. We have been initiated into new life with Christ, let us live that new life with passion and dedication and be truly worthy of our calling.