BAPTISM: GOD’S PROFOUND GRACE IN US
Christian baptism is God’s profound grace in us to commit to Christ’s mission and God’s kingdom on earth. It is not a religious ritual or rite of sacred oil, water, or word pronouncement.
Fundamentally, the sacrament of baptism opens us up to God’s grace and the Christian life.
Hence, it is the most fundamental sacrament that initiates us into the divine life of God, the Church, and personal freedom from sin and slavery to Satan.
The feast of the baptism of the Lord concludes the festivals of Christmas. It is a significant feast in the life of the Church and all Christian faithful. It calls us to reflect upon our mission and commitment as Jesus’s disciples.
BAPTISM IS A SACRAMENT OF GRACE!
Baptism is a sacrament of grace! It is one of the sacraments of Christian initiation into the divine life with the Trinitarian Godhead in Jesus Christ, through the action of the Holy Spirit.
This sacramental life flows into the ecclesiastical life thereby enriching the Body of Christ, the Church with the seal of the Holy Spirit and its gifts to the baptized soul.
It is not just an increase of the members of Christ’s body: the Church. It calls for full activeness and participation in the Church´s life.
OUR THEME
The scriptural readings of the baptism of the Lord explain to us the essence of our baptism. They invite us to the hope, joy, and peace of the salvation of God.
The readings demonstrate the transformative power and effect of our baptism in Christ Jesus through the actions of the Holy Spirit. By baptism, we become members of God’s family: the Church.
Thus, as children of God, we become brothers and sisters in the Lord, sons and daughters of God, and temples of the Spirit.
In all, our theme is Jesus brings justice, peace, and divine life to the nations. As his baptised family, we seek the kingdom of God through justice and peace.
Equally, this Sunday of the baptism of the Lord invites us to reflect concretely on our baptism and its commitment by us directly or indirectly by our parents and Godparents.
FIRST READING: ISAIAH 40:1-5, 9-11
The prophecy of Isaiah was for the captive Israelites in Babylonian exile from about 600 B.C.E. to 540 B.C.E. It offered comfort and the return of the Israelites to their homeland.
Again, it addresses some fundamental realities of baptism. That is baptism entails spiritual preparation, liberation, restoration, and salvation.
We encourage through genuine conversation to fill the valleys of habitual sins. It involves us also levelling the mountain, or hills of pride and self-sufficiency without God. As well as making straight crooked lifestyles of hypocrisy or the roughed paths of wickedness.
In essence, the Prophet Isaiah explains what it means to be prepared and committed to baptism for the grace and glory of the Lord to shine in us.
There would be peace and transformation because the Lord will comfort, forgive and end the miseries of his people. Through the rebirth of baptism and as their shepherd, he will feed his flock with abundance.
PSALM 104
In the responsorial of the psalm, the psalmist invites us to bless and acknowledge the Lord as follows: O bless the Lord, my soul. Baptism is the marvellous work of redemption God has wrought in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
It is a renewal or recreation through the Spirit of God, sent forth to renew us and the face of the earth.
SECOND READING: TITUS 2:11-14; 3: 4-7
In the Letter of St Paul to his godson Titus, he lays out the mystery of the sacrament of baptism. Equally, he emphasises the power and efficacy of Christian baptism. For Paul, our baptism is supposed to purify us through the water of rebirth and renewal. Our baptism is:
- It is when the unmerited grace of God is manifest forever.
- It brings about the holistic liberation of Christ over us.
- It requires us to renounce Satan, evil, impiety and worldly passions of any sort.
- It makes us live worthy lives of self-control, uprightness, and godliness with good deeds.
- We live in the blessed hope of the manifestation of the glory of God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
- Through baptism, we live in the redeeming power of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- Therefore, we are washed clean of all iniquity and purified of all actual and Original sin.
- Salvation through the grace of baptism is solely an act of the goodness and loving-kindness of God.
- Our redemption is not by our self-righteousness or good deeds. It is grace through baptism.
It is a grace of mercy, through water rebirth and renewal by the unction of the Holy Spirit. It is the divine adaptation of God the Father in Christ Jesus, the Son through the sanctifying action of the Holy Spirit. Baptism is a Trinitarian work of Salvation. It grants us hope of eternal life.
In other words, St Paul to Titus explains the salvific work of God through baptism. That is even what baptismal life in Christ Jesus entails: “The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age. Especially, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
GOSPEL: LUKE 3:15-16, 21-22
John the Baptist gave catechetical instructions to the people willing to be baptised about baptism and the expected Messiah. The Baptist points to Jesus the Saviour, whom God calls my Son, the Beloved.
Hence, the baptism of the Lord is a Trinitarian manifestation of the Godhead. Here, we see the Son, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit in the bodily form of a dove, and the Father through the voice of declaration.
BIBLICAL SCHOLARS’ VIEWS ON THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST
According to many biblical scholars, the baptism of Christ is a very important moment in his ministry as well as in the life of the Sacramental Church.
1. It was a moment of decision. After thirty years of silent life in Nazareth, Jesus decided to go public through his baptism by John the Baptist who merged to present or reveal him to the waiting world. Our preparation to celebrate and receive the sacrament of baptism, either as infants or adults is a very decisive moment when we opt fundamentally for God and God alone.
Our baptism is not a social, cultural or traditional feast. It is a spiritual celebration of dignity, rebirth and transformation forever.
2. It was the moment of identification. Jesus was identified by John the Baptist, by those around, and ultimately by God the Father who declared upon him as the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a Dove. “This is my Son”. Our baptism is a moment of identity too. Identity with the indelible mark of God as his children of God and members of the Christian community: the Church.
3. It was the moment of approval. The Holy Trinity approved Jesus’ person, life, and mission. The Father said of him, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you, I am well pleased.” The Holy Spirit manifested his abiding presence to him. Jesus’ mission was also the Trinitarian mission of salvation to save the world.
4. It was the moment of equipment. When the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. It was a moment of preparedness but God´s Spirit of love, grace, mercy, and with all its gifts and fruits to fortify Jesus’ personality, life, and ministry.
Hence, after baptism Jesus had the desert experience of praying and fasting, overcoming Satan´s temptations and initiating his public ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing
5. It is a moment of grace! A sacrament of grace, in fact, our baptism, is a grace unmerited given to us in Christ Jesus by God the Father through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we are always baptized by the Trinitarian formula of the God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Fundamentally, Baptism is not to make us idle members of the Church or inactive sons and daughters of God. It is not “sacramentalizing” our lives without spiritualizing us to live and bear witness to the divine life of God in us. We receive the sacrament of baptism to be fully active in the life of grace while bearing witness to God and the Christian life.
OUR BAPTISM
Even though, many of us were baptised as infants. Our parents and godparents made the baptismal commitment on our behalf. However, whether we are baptised as infants or adults, it is a commitment we grow to assume as good practising Catholics.
Therefore, our baptism is:
1. The grace of our baptism in our Christina life is a profound work of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Hence, we were baptised by the Trinitarian formulae.
2. Our baptism cleanses us from Original Sin and actual sins.
3. It makes us adopted sons and daughters of God in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit: children of God and beloved members of the Holy Catholic Church.
4. The grace of baptism leaves an indelible mark on us as a people who belong to God forever.
5. Our baptism was also a day of a new beginning for us. We were launched on the great adventure of becoming disciples of Jesus in our own time.
6. Accepting Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour is a baptismal commitment.
7. Unconditionally, it is a privileged moment when we are assured of God’s love and favour.
8. It was a moment of empowerment by the Holy Spirit for the journey ahead of us.
9. Our baptism is a divine commission to live an authentic Christian life. It empowers us to bear witness to Christ and his Kingdom.
10. Indeed, it is a moment of grace that has the potential to shape our lives in a very fundamental way. That is a way that is in keeping with the purpose of God for our lives.
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS
a. How are you living out your baptismal commitment today as a Christian and catholic?
b. Do you acknowledge and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour?
c. Do you reject Satan and all his scheming? Or do you unconsciously or consciously act as an agent of Satan in your modus operandi as a Christian?
BASIC POINTS OF THE REFLECTION
- For us Christians who are followers of Christ, our baptism reminds us of our identity.
- Again our baptism reminds us also of our mission. It is a day to thank God for the graces we have received.
- We are challenged to renew our Baptismal promises with a sense of commitment and gratitude today.
- The best way to live our baptismal life in Christ Jesus is to preach the Good News of Christ through our transparent Christian lives of love, mercy, service and forgiveness.
OUR PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, your baptism was a model call to all who follow you. For us, it is an occasion to be reborn, renew, and commit to the mission of witnessing to the Gospel’s faith, hope, love and courage. We ask you to help us, be authentic witnesses in every aspect of our lives, and be thankful for the gift of our baptism. Amen
