Last Sunday, we commemorated the visit of the Magi to the Infant Jesus. Today, bringing the Christmas Season to a close, the Gospel “fast-forwards” thirty years and presents an adult Jesus, at the banks of the Jordan at his baptism. John’s baptism was one of repentance. Why would the Son of God submit to this ritual of purification? He had no need to seek pardon for sin. He was baptized to stand in solidarity—to be close—to us sinners who struggle along life’s journey.
Our Lord’s detractors—the scribes and Pharisees—often criticized Jesus for associating with sinners, but he came precisely to take upon himself the enormous weight of humanity’s sinfulness. Jesus said he had another baptism to receive—his suffering and death on the cross to redeem us from sin.
So, Our Lord’s baptism was not a baptism of repentance but a baptism of revelation. We see Jesus in the eternal communion of the Blessed Trinity manifest at the Jordan. The voice of the Father is heard and the Holy Spirit descends upon the Lord.
But this event also reveals something about ourselves. If someone asked us, “Who are you?” We could have different responses.
One response could be, “I am what I do.”— I am a teacher, a nurse, a carpenter, an accountant, a state worker. As we get older, we could say, “Look at what I did…I was a great teacher, a dedicated nurse, a skilled carpenter, a diligent accountant, a much beloved state worker for the citizens of New Jersey. But this response does not sum up our true identity. Our identity should not be based on our function or utility.
Another reply might be, “I am what others think about me.” Aren’t we often tempted to think that way. What others say of me is powerful and even important and we want to be known by others in a certain way.
But our identity is not based on the way others react to us. That would be allowing our friends and enemies to decide who we are.
A third response to “Who are you?” might be, “I am what I have.” We point to our homes, our possessions and the various creature comforts we have managed to store up. Ah, but as the Gospel warns, these are fleeting. Lose any of them and life becomes gloomy.
“I am what I do…I am what others think of me…I am what I have…are not the proper answers to the fundamental question, “Who are you?” The answer is found in Baptism of Our Lord. What the Eternal Father said of Jesus at the Jordan, he says of us at our baptism—“You are my beloved Son. You are my beloved daughter.” In baptism we not only “belong” to God, but we become the “beloved” of God. It is the identity that remans with us even when we fall into sin, it follows us into eternity. It is what the Catechism calls the sacrament’s “indelible character.”
People who love us do not always love us well. Those who care for us can even wound us, but God formed us in our mother’s womb and loved us before anyone touched us or showed us love. Nothing can change God’s love for us! It is His love for us that remains. God’s love is unconditional.
But we must be careful not to confuse conditional love with unconditional approval. God does indeed love us, but he does not always approve of everything we do. Like a good parent, he loves his child but does not always approve of his or her behavior. He prods us to change. He will challenge us to an ongoing conversion…and that work of sanctification is the work of a lifetime!
Jesus clung to His Father’s words throughout his earthly life and mission. They allowed him to live in a world that rejected him and praised him. In the midst of everything, Jesus knew that the Father would never leave him.
We too should cling to those words. We must reject the voices that may call us worthless and unlovable because that is contrary to the truth of our existence as children of God. Today 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 be ever worthy of it by our way of life.
