Daily Retreat 01/08/07
2007 Jan 8 Mon: BAPTISM OF THE LORD F
Is 40: 1-5. 9-11 or Ti 2: 11-14; 3: 4-7/ Ps 103(104): 1b-2. 3-4. 24-25. 27-28. 29-30 (1)/ Lk 3: 15-16. 21-22
From todays readings: Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God! ... He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.... The Lord will bless His people with peace.... After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove....
Two Reasons for Baptism
In accordance with the Churchs recommendation, many of us received the grace of Baptism within a few weeks after our birth, and so its hardly a coincidence that, this Sunday, the Church celebrates the Baptism of the Lord, just a few weeks after the Christmas celebration of His birth.
Christs baptism marked the beginning of His public ministry, and since the life of Jesus is an example for us, our commemoration of His baptism today is also intended to inspire us to appreciate anew the grace of our own baptism, and understand how our own baptism is connected to Christs baptism.
Why are Christians baptized? What happens in the spiritual order when the minister of baptism pours water on a persons head, saying, in fulfillment of Christs own command, I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit? Through the waters of baptism, all sins (including Original Sin) are washed away, and moreover, the person baptized is born anew in the order of grace as a child of God, a bona fide member of His family.
Theres much to elaborate about these two central effects of baptism, but before that line of thought can even be pursued (on another occasion), since baptism washes away sin and gives new birth as a child of God, then the question immediately arises, Why was Christ baptized? He who knew no sin certainly did not require the sacramental cleansing of baptism, and of course, that only begotten Son of God had no need of baptism to legitimize His lineage. No wonder John the Baptist was understandable taken aback when approached by Jesus, when the King explained to His soldier his ironic duty of commissioning his own Monarch!
And yet, as always, God knows best! For Jesus too needed to undergo baptism for two reasons, though His motives were quite different from the spiritually salutary effects you and I received at the moment of our baptism.
First, in order to fulfill all righteousness, Jesus was baptized Himself in order to leave His followers forever with the crystal clear example of the crucial indispensability of baptism - He who Himself wholly knew no sin had the humility to approach John, who though himself holy, did know sin. Clearly, then, none among us, even one with the innocence of a baby, should forego divine sacramental cleansing!
And second, Jesus was submersed in the waters of baptism not for His own rebirth, but to baptize the water itself as the new sacramental conduit of His holiness of life. So now, all the baptismal water which washes the head of a child originates as prolific runoff from the head of Christ!
Fr. Rory Pitstick
Our Lady of the Valley Parish
2511 N. Elmway
Okanogan WA 98840 USA
(509) 422-5049
"Illum oportet crescere, me autem minui." John 3:30
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posted by FrPitstick | 1/07/2007
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