Dear Parents,
This past weekend we celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. We began the Liturgical year pre- paring for the birth of Jesus. We celebrated His birth and the visit of the three wise men. Now we fast forward to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus’ mission formally began with His baptism by John in the Jordan River.
The Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist marks the initiation of the kingdom of God on earth. By why was Jesus baptized? To show us how a person must enter into the kingdom of God. The primary mission of Jesus is restore a loving relationship between God the Father and humanity, to bring the Spirit of God to dwell again with humanity and this happens each time a person is baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity. He or she receives the Holy Spirit. The Gospel passage notes that the “sky opens up”. We know that the heavens were closed when Adam and Eve sinned. Something new is happening here. The heavens are opening. Humanity is going to be healed and restored to a loving relationship with God. But more than that. God is revealing himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is a Triune God. Three persons yet one God. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all involved in reconciling humanity back to God. The Father speaks from heaven, the spirit appears as a dove and the son assumes human nature to suffer for the sins of the world. This is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel and the title Lamb of God indicates that he will shed his blood for the liberation of humanity from the power of the evil one. God is a communion of love and now the Son of God become man is going to restore hu- manity into that loving communion.
But what does this entail for Jesus. The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and obedience to the will of the Father to suffer for the sins of men and the inauguration of his mission as God’s suffering Servant. He allows Himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Already he is anticipating the “baptism” of his bloody death. Already he is coming to “fulfill all righteousness”, that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father’s will; out of love he consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. The Father’s voice responds to the Son’s acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in His Son. The Spirit whom Jesus possessed in fullness from His conception is seen to “rest on him.” Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind. A new creation is about to begin.
Through Baptism each Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus. We enter into the life of Je- sus. We enter into the humility and obedience to the will of the Father. In some real sense we go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him. We are reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father’s beloved sons and daughters so as to “walk in newness of life.”
As we begin this new year, let us keep our baptismal promises. Let us keep the 10 commandments. Let us kind, thoughtful, generous, faithful, chaste, Let us serve the Lord well this year.
Monsignor Leonard Pivonka