BAPTISM IS OUR COMMITMENT AND MISSION TO CHRIST
The Christian baptism is our profound commitment and mission to Christ and his kingdom. It is not just a mere religious ritual or rite of sacred oil, water and words pronouncement. Actually, the sacrament of baptism opens us up to the grace of God 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 is a feast that calls us to reflect upon our mission and commitment as the disciples of Jesus.
OUR BAPTISM
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.
Indeed, the sacrament of baptism cleanses us from Original sin and actual sins. It makes us adopted sons and daughters of God in Christ Jesus, as well as members of the Catholic Church. The grace of baptism leaves an indelible mark on us as a people who belong to God forever.
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 to us the transformative power and effect of our baptism in Christ Jesus through the actions of the Holy Spirit. By our baptism, we become a member of the family of God: 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 baptized family, we seek the kingdom of God through justice and peace.
FIRST READING: ISAIAH 40:1-5,9-11
The prophecy of Isaiah was for the captives Israelites in Babylonian exile from about 600 B.C.E to 540 B.C.E. It offers comfort and 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 straights crooked lifestyle 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 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 emphasizes 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 sole an act of the goodness, loving-kindness of God.
Our redemption is 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 baptized 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 a bodily form of a dove and the Father through the voice of declaration.
Evidently, from the Gospel of Luke 3:15-16, 21-22, people flocked to John the Baptist to seek a way to be faithful to God or prepare to receive Him. That is how to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord.
The whole point of baptism is to believe, acknowledge, and receive Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour.
The celebration of the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus is a privileged moment for us. We are called to reflect on our baptism and its significance for us.
The day of the baptism of Jesus was a watershed in his life; it was a day of a new beginning.
On that day, he began his public ministry, and he gave himself in the service of God and all of the people of God fully.
It was a moment of divine assurance of God his Father. He made a favourable declaration over Christ: You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.
The baptism was also a moment of empowerment by the Holy Spirit, who descended upon him like a dove
OUR BAPTISM
Though many of us were baptized as infants. Our parents and godparents made the baptismal commitment on our behalf. However, whether we are baptized as infants or adults, it is a commitment we grow to assume as good practising Catholics. 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 baptized by the Trinitarian formulae.
Our baptism cleanses us from our original and every actual sin.
It makes adoptive children of God and beloved members of the Holy Catholic Church.
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.
It was a privileged moment when we were given an assurance of the love and favour of God unconditionally.
It was a moment of empowerment by the Holy Spirit for the journey ahead of us.
Our baptism is a divine commission to live an authentic Christian life. It empowers us to bear witness to Christ and his Kingdom.
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
How are you living out your baptismal commitment today as a Christian and catholic?
Do you acknowledge and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour?
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 have the challenge 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 by 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 being witnesses to the Gospel with faith, hope, love and courage.
Help us to be authentic witnesses in every aspect of our lives. We thank you for the gift of our baptism. May this luminous sacrament not only enlighten our Christian path and journey of faith. May it dispel the darkness of sins and grant us the grace of filial adoption to cry out with you – Abba-Father-Papa. As we renew our baptismal commitment today. Amen
