The Father’s Beloved—At the Jordan and at the Font
Msgr. Thomas Gervasio
Administering Baptism is one of the joys of a priest or deacon’s ministry. Although they can be distracting, crying, even screaming infants, don’t annoy me at all. If a baby cries or screams while I pour the water, I tell the parents that it is a sign that their son is destined to become a priest or their daughter, a Sister. They love that! Today’s feast would have us consider the Lord’s baptism as well as our own. What moved Jesus to request baptism? He had no need of John’s baptism of repentance. But Jesus made this first act of his public ministry an expression of the mission of his life—to be in the midst of sinners…an act of solidarity, a way of taking our side, sympathizing with us, so that we might know he understands. Our Lord’s baptism was not one of repentance but of revelation—a revelation confirmed by the epiphany of the Holy Trinity at the Jordan.
The voice of the Father is heard and the Spirit descends upon Jesus, the Beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased, because of his perfect obedience to the Father’s will. Our Lord would say, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” and “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” That will was not only for teaching and healing, but to sacrifice himself for our redemption.
While the Lord’s baptism is different from our own, we can see a few parallels: At the Jordan, the Trinity was revealed, anointing Jesus for his salvific mission. Through our baptism, we enter in communion with the Trinity. We are anointed with Chrism to signify our identity and our mission as Christ’s disciples. We receive an indelible character, a permanent identity that remains with us even into eternity.
At our baptism, the Father says of us what he said of Jesus: “You are my beloved son, my beloved daughter.” At times, of course, the Father is not pleased by our sin, but always invites us to begin again. Baptism not only causes us to “belong” to God but makes us “beloved” by God. We are not merely creatures; we are beloved children. This “divine filiation” opens heaven for us. St. Paul says we are “no longer, slaves, but a son, and if a son, then an heir.”
Joined to Christ by Baptism, we are joined to theChurch, a community. We are not “lone rangers.” “Our faith in God cannot be real without our faith in the Church…Believing in Jesus and believing in the Church, are two sides of one faith.”[H. Nouwen]
At times this can be difficult to grasp because we know the Church to be a human organization with problems and struggles. But our understanding of the Church cannot be limited to this aspect alone. The Church has a divine nature, assured of guidance of the Holy Spirit. She is also the Bride of Christ for whom he gave his life. How can we say we love Christ without loving his Bride? Imagine if we said to a friend, “I love you, I admire you, you’re great. But your bride…she’s another story.” I doubt you would remain friends for long!
Every time we enter the church we recall gift of holy baptism when we take holy water and make the sign of the cross invoking the Blessed Trinity. Today, above all, let us thank God for the gift of faith, for the gift of baptism and for the dignity he has bestowed upon us. Let us embrace our identity as beloved children of God and be ever worthy of it by our way of life.