Exiit qui seminar: "The sower goes out to sow"
This Sunday is the final celebration of the Christmas season – the Baptism of the Lord. At face value, Jesus’ baptism seems unnecessary. If we, as a Church, believe that Christ is like us in all things but sin, then why would He need to participate in John’s baptism, a baptism of repentance, at all? Jesus does this for two reasons. The first is to give us an example of what He asks of us – that God would never ask anything of us that He first wouldn’t do Himself. The second is to “baptize” Baptism. Remember John the Baptist’s baptism was symbolic. He takes the Jewish practice of ritual purification and uses it as a reminder for the need for conversion. To be baptized by John was to acknowledge change of one’s behavior, to turn away from sin and live out a life faith. By His own baptism, Jesus takes the water of the Jordan and the even the water that would and will be used for every baptism for the rest of time and infuses it with the Holy Spirit and the fire of divine love. So now, not only is there an external transformation of our lives for the better, but more importantly a radical transformation of our souls. The mark of Original Sin is removed. We are given the gift of faith and we become a part of the Church. In an age and time in which baptism has turned more into a rite of passage or an honorific for godparents, Christ and His Church is challenging us and filling us with His grace so that we can change not only our actions, but that our lives can be save through God’s plan of salvation. As Padre Pio writes, “Let us be especially grateful to God for the gift of faith, a gift which is mainly instilled in us with Baptism … We must remember that faith is the greatest gift that God has made to man on this earth, because from earthly man he becomes a citizen of Heaven.”
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Fr. Rob Sinatra
