Feast of the Lord's Baptism (C)

(Edited) Sunday Reflections (from) Liturgical Years 2011 (A), 2012 (B), and 2013 (C)

Feast of the Lord's Baptism (C), January 13, 2013

Liturgical readings
Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Psalm 104
Titus 2:11-14, 3:4-7
Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

"The Christ will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire."

Only a few passages in the gospels reveal the Triune Person of God: as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The gospel this Sunday in Luke 3:15-16, 21-22, represents one of those few passages. It is the passage that describes the Lord's baptism by John the Baptist. Though St. John appears first in the scene of the gospel story and is shown also as a protagonist, he himself emphasizes that he is not the Messiah. He appeared first because his mission is to baptize with water. It is the One who follows after him who is the Christ, and the One who will baptize in the Holy Spirit and in fire. As the gospel continues to describe this baptism event, we see Jesus approaching John. John baptizes Him and then the skies open. The Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove. A sound from above was then heard. It was the Father's voice from heaven resounding with the words: "You are My beloved Son; on You My favor rests."

Many preachers and writers along the history of the Church's growth reflected on this event of the Lord's baptism. One of them was St. Gregory Nazianzen (ca. 329-390 A.D.). He is one of the Greek Fathers of the Church and a contemporary of St. Basil who guided the Church in the 4th century A.D. He speaks of the baptism of the Lord with themes of conversion and light. He says that the Light of Christ is also the responsibility of each of the baptized faithful to bring to a world in need of that Light. This is St. Gregory's message:

"Today let us do honor to Christ's baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives God delight as the conversion and salvation of man, for whom His every word and revelation exist. He wants you to become a living force for all, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside the great Light, bathed in the glory of Him who is the Light of heaven."

All the faithful in Catholicism are privileged to have access to this rich spiritual tradition that continues to our present times. We do not only have the Scriptural tradition, but also the many reflections of the Church's teachers in the many centuries after Christ. So aside from the teaching of St. Gregory Nazianzen in the 4th century A.D., we also have the teaching of St. John Paul II in our own century and millenium. He associated the baptism of the Lord to the theme of light when he included this event in the mysteries of light of the rosary prayers. John Paul II made the Lord's baptism as the first light mystery for all the faithful to see that the light of prayer must lead to bringing that light to the very circumstances the faithful work and live in. It is a light that creates in oneself and in others a Church that becomes "a living force for all."