January 10, 2021

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

“When God Breaks Into Our Lives”

Monsignor Thomas Gervasio

Through the mystery of the Incarnation, Jesus united himself to humanity, the daily life and routine of Palestine.  He was a middle eastern man, a Jew who spoke Aramaic, who lived and worked in a small village.  He blended into the crowd, into common humanity.  When he went to the River Jordan to be baptized, the event we celebrate today, there was nothing about his person that would distinguish him from the others who were there to listen to be baptized by John.

But there are three moments in the Gospel that break into his ordinary daily life and reveal the hidden mystery of his Person.   The first was his baptism.  The voice of the Eternal Father was heard: “You are my Beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”  [Mk 1:11] His divinity is confirmed at this, the beginning of his public ministry. 

The second came later in his public life, at his Transfiguration, when the Father’s voice was again heard on Mount Tabor: “This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Listen to him.”   [Mt. 17:7]

The third moment was on Calvary when one of the first believers, the Roman Centurion, declared, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” [Mk 15:39]   

Today’s feast would have us reflect on the moment when God broke into our common daily life—our baptism.  It was the moment we became an adopted child of God. Outwardly nothing changed, but inwardly, a hidden divine mystery, the Holy Spirit, took hold us of us and marked us forever as God’s beloved.   

Our Lord’s baptism was not triumphalist.  It was a royalty not of power but of service and of love, just as we heard in our Scripture readings.  Isaiah foretold that the Lord’s servant would bring forth justice, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street.  A bruised reed he shall not break and the smoldering wick he shall not quench.” [Is 42: 1-3]    
St. Peter preached that Jesus came to “proclaim peace’ and that “He went about doing good and healing” the oppressed. [Acts 10:36-37] 

This humility, this gentleness, this patience and healing we find in Our Lord’s life and ministry should be the goal of our own baptismal consecration.  How evident are they in our life?  Are these not virtues that we need to infuse into our culture, and indeed in our country when there is so much division and turmoil?       

Fr. Henri Nouwen comes to our aid yet again. “Gentleness” he writes, “is a virtue hard to find in a society that admires toughness and roughness…Gentle is the one who does not ‘break the crushed reed or snuff the faltering wick’…A gentle person treads lightly, listens carefully, looks tenderly, and touches with reverence.  A gentle person knows that true growth requires nurture not force.  Let’s dress ourselves with gentleness.” [Bread for the Journey, February 7]  

Professor Peter Kreeft reminds us that “the only way to true peace is to become a child of God in Christ…. For peacemaking, Christ’s way is soul winning.  Spread the good infection of Christ, by word and deed of love, and if enough of us cast enough votes for peace every day, we will be blessed with it.”  [Back to Virtue, p. 151]