Monday January 9, 2006 (Audio) Homily by Fr. Robert Altier Baptism of the Lord
Reading I (Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7) Reading II (Acts 10:34-38)
Gospel (St. Mark 1:7-11)
As we celebrate today the feast of Our Lord’s Baptism, it is a point
that asks us the question: What does Baptism mean for us? If Jesus was
baptized, first of all the question is: Why? Obviously, He had no sin that
needed to be removed, so why would He be baptized? The saints tell us that the
reason He was baptized was in order to make the waters of Baptism holy. It was
not that He had to be baptized because of any sin of His own, but rather the
point with regard to sin has to do with ours. Being that all of us who are
baptized enter into the Mystical Body of Christ, it would be fitting then that
Christ Himself would be baptized in order that all of the sins of the members
of the Mystical Body would be removed by Baptism.
It also is fitting that He would be baptized because Our Lord will ask
us to do nothing unless He was willing to do it first. We see that throughout
His entire life. He took on all the suffering that we might have to endure – He
walked to the Cross, He was crucified. There is nothing that He refused to do.
So if He asks us to do something, we see that He was willing to do it first. He
is not sitting back saying to us, “I want you to suffer, but I don’t want to do
it myself. I want you to be baptized, but I won’t be.” He, as the leader, walks
in front of us; He walks ahead so that we can follow; and He lays out for us
exactly what will be required of each of us.
Now He also speaks in the Gospels about another baptism, and that
baptism is His death, His suffering and His death. And so Saint Paul tells us
that when we are baptized, we are baptized into the death and resurrection of
Christ so that we share in the fullness of the very person of Jesus Christ.
Consequently, when we are baptized, we become children of God, members of the
one Son of God – with Whom God is well pleased – at that time.
Of course, what we do with our lives is not always so pleasing to God,
but the reality of the matter is that we are all members of Jesus Christ. We
are all baptized. Consequently, as children of God, even if we have not done
what we should, we can still get things turned around. We can still live now
the way we are supposed to. The grace is there and the ability is there, not of
our own accord, but by His strength. If we are members of Jesus Christ then we
have the strength of Christ to be able to do what needs to be done. We can live
virtuous and holy lives in this world. So if we look back and think, “I’ve
squandered my baptismal inheritance,” that is not entirely true because,
thankfully, the baptismal inheritance that is ours is infinite. Perhaps we have
done with that inheritance some things we should not, but the inheritance
ultimately is God. If we will turn our hearts to God and allow ourselves to be
filled with Him then we have exactly what He wants for us. He wants us to be
united with Himself, and He wants us to live what we have promised in Baptism.
Saint Peter, in the second reading, tells us that Jesus went about
doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil. Well, what is
Baptism? It is removing us from the power of Satan and putting us into Jesus
Christ. What we need, then, to do in our day-to-day lives is reject all of the
things of the devil, all the temptations, the sins, the whole thing. We need to
reject it all so we can live according to the way of Christ. If Jesus came to
heal those oppressed by the devil, all we need to do is look in the mirror and
realize that we are among those because all of us have fallen so many times
that the devil has a hold. But that hold can be broken, and it is broken by
Christ. If we will turn to Him and we will enter into ourselves so that He can
heal those wounds in our hearts, then we can be free of the oppression of Satan
and we can have the true freedom of the children of God. The Holy Spirit Who
came upon us at the moment of Baptism, and in fullness at Confirmation, is
present within if we are in the state of grace. Satan has no power over the
Lord, so we have everything we need if we are willing to do it. It is
frightening, it can be very painful, but if we are willing to look at those
ugly things inside, we can break the bondage of Satan and we can live in the
fullness of the freedom that was given to us at Baptism. We can live as
children of God with whom He is well pleased.
* This text was
transcribed from the audio recording of a homily by Father Robert Altier with minimal editing.