(The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde at the Mass celebrating the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, Virginia on Sunday, January 9, 2005.)
Permit me to begin this by sharing once again a basic principle for our growth in holiness — a principle which you have heard me state often. To grow in holiness involves our reliving in the here and now of our individual lives the sacred events or mysteries in the Lord Jesus's life. For example, at Christmas, I reminded us that “only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us” (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 526).
Earlier this week, when we celebrated the memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who is the secondary patroness of our diocese, her own words reminded me of this basic principle: “I once read or heard that an interior life means but the continuation of our Savior's life in us"” (from a conference to her spiritual daughters). Moreover, the purpose of the liturgical year is to enable us to relive the sacred events or mysteries in Christ's life as we journey through each year.
Today, we are celebrating the Baptism of the Lord. In light of the basic principle I just outlined, what does it mean for us to relive in our lives the baptism of the Lord?
To answer this question, we must first ask: What did the baptism of Jesus mean in His life? The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: “The baptism of Jesus is on His part the acceptance and inauguration of His mission as God's suffering Servant” (No. 536). Indeed, today's first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah confirms Jesus's role and mission as the suffering Servant. “Here is My servant whom I uphold, My chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I put My spirit". 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".” At His baptism, Jesus publicly went forth to carry out His Father's will, which is to save us all. Today's second reading from the Acts of the Apostles reminds us that Jesus was “anointed"with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” In fact, the passage from St. Matthew's Gospel, just proclaimed in our hearing, pictures Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist as the heavens were opened and the Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove and a voice from the heavens declared: “This is My beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased.”
If, then, the baptism of Jesus was His acceptance and inauguration of His mission to be our Lord and Savior, then the reliving of this mystery in our lives must mean the acceptance and continuation of our own baptismal consecration whereby we too were “reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father's beloved son in the Son and 'walk in newness of life'” (Catechism, No. 537).
So then, walking in this newness of life as beloved sons and daughters of God, allowing Jesus to be with us as our companion and Savior, we seek each day to go about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil. We do this in concrete ways. We encounter daily life with all its problems and uncertainty, but now we do so in a spirit of faith, hope and love. We now do all that we can to inject into our society huge dosages of compassion and forgiveness, of justice and peace. We now seek in every way to be agents of change — catalysts — for a renewed morality in the personal, civic, political and social areas of life, thereby creating a new civilization of love and of life. Yes, we live out the Lord's Baptism in our lives by fulfilling the mission He gave us at baptism: to be partners with Him in proclaiming God's reign and in offering the salvation He has won to all our sisters and brothers.
Today's solemnity of the Lord's Baptism is like a hinge, closing the season of Christmas while simultaneously opening the season of Ordinary Time. Into all the days, weeks and months that lie ahead, we are to bring the same Lord Jesus, Whom we adored and praised throughout this Christmas season. Even more, we must allow Him to use us as His instruments of justice and peace, of compassion and mercy, of forgiveness and reconciliation. Only in this way will we continue to live out in our lives the mystery of His baptism. So, once again, we echo the prayer we voiced earlier in today's Mass: “Keep us, your children born of water and the Spirit, faithful to our calling.” Amen!
