Readings - http://www.usccb.org/nab/010911.shtml
"Through the mixing of this water and wine may we come to share in Christ’s divinity just as he humbled himself to share in our humanity" –- from the Catholic Mass (prayer said by the priest at the 'preparation of the gifts')
With the celebration of this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we celebrate the last day of Christmas. This season, began with the Feast of the Nativity on Dec 24/25 when we remembered Jesus’ entry into this world (like very one of us) as a baby. It proceeded through the Feast of Holy Family on the Sunday following, which recalled that Jesus like every one of us entered into this world in the context of a family. Every one of us, even if we spent our childhood in an orphanage or among a series of foster families has had the experience of growing up in a world in which 5-10 maybe 15 people were the ones with which we spent the most time, and who formed us into who we are. Then we continued with the the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God on New Years which closed out the Octave of the Nativity and reminded us that Jesus, like each and every one of us, entered this world through a mother who holds a special place for us. Even if we did not know our mothers, we had one. And each of us has had people who have served as “Mother figures” who became our greatest advocates / defenders during our lives.
Last Sunday, with the Feast of the Epiphany we changed our focus a little from focusing on Jesus’ immediate family to focusing on Jesus’ mission, recalling then that Jesus was revealed by a Star to wise-men around the world as a Light to the Nations). Today with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we close-out the Octave of the Epiphany in which we remember what the Orthodox Church calls “The Great Theophany” where Jesus, now an adult, is baptized by John and God takes the occasion to reveal Jesus as “(God’s) own Son with whom (he) is well pleased.”
The Great Theophany at the Jordon also gives us the first glimpse of the Trinity. All Three are Present – the Son in the River, the Spirit descending upon him “like a dove” and the Father’s voice blesses the Son.
The Great Theophany also sets Jesus on his mission/ministry and prefigures what will take place at its end: Jesus, dunked in the river symbolically joins with all who have ever died or will ever die, rising out of the river prefigures his and our Resurrection, and standing half in the water half outside shows us that he stands as the bridge between death and new life.
All this is present in this the last day of Christmas (in which we focus on the Mystery of the Incarnation), and the last day of the Octave of the Epiphany in which we focus specifically on God’s Revelation of his message through the Incarnation of his Son.
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Ok, so now how do we bring this high theology down to earth? ;-)
Well, to begin our descent, let us begin by noting that we spent much of the Christmas season recalling how Jesus entered into this world JUST LIKE US, that he entered into this world not in some magical way or in a manner out of “Startrek” materializing out of nothingness into an adult being, but rather he was conceived, grew in his mother’s womb, was born as a baby, and grew to adulthood in the context of a family/culture/etc.
WE COULD TURN OUR PHRASING AROUND to say that WE entered into this world in a way which is very similar to that of Jesus. Jesus was conceived. So were we. Jesus’ spirit took on flesh. Arguably so did we. Just like in the case of Jesus we could conceive of ourselves as each of being something akin to a “Ghost in a Machine.” Indeed, we may see this _more clearly_ with Jesus than with ourselves because we talk of Jesus’ dual human/divine nature. We don’t have too much trouble understanding that within that human Jesus was GOD THE SON (the Divine Jesus). But we could say something similar about ourselves.
In the second chapter of Genesis, we’re given the image that God when God made Adam, the first man, he made his body out of clay and then breathed His spirit into him. So we too are in a sense “ghosts (our spirits) in a machine (our fleshy bodies).” We don’t know how/when this “ensoulment” happens but because the Church does not know when it happens, it says that it _could_ happen as early as conception (there is no other clear/logical place to declare that this happens, because from conception our human journey begins and continues until our death).
We then enter the world, just like Jesus did at our birth. And after we die, we believe that our spirits leave our bodies to go to where where they are destined to go afterwards.
So with the exception that we believe that God created us (including presumably our souls) which we actually hear referred to in the First Reading today, while we believe God the Son, the second person of the Trinity existed with God the Father from Eternity (John 1:1), OUR INCARNATION INTO THIS WORLD is actually RATHER SIMILAR to that of Jesus.
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But that is still rather “out there.” Let us bring things further down to earth.
We are told that through Baptism, we become adopted children of God. The same blessing we hear God the Father give Jesus becomes our goal as well: “You are my beloved child with whom I am well pleased.”
Further, in Baptism, we become incorporated into the Body of Christ in this world. That is, WE are called AS CHURCH to act as the Body of Christ in world.
With his Baptism in the Jordon, Jesus’ adult life and ministry began. We will hear in the coming weeks that ministry unfold. Jesus healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, cured and brought lepers back into the community, forgave sins and reconciled them back into the community, he even raised those who were dead. WE’RE CALLED TO DO THE SAME:
When we see someone who is ill or in need, we are called to try to help him/her.
When we see someone lost in life, bumping into one disaster after another, we’re called to “enlighten” that person, give him/her direction so that they can walk through life with greater ease.
We are called to bring back, reconcile those (and often be reconciled _with those_) who have been “cast out” of the community for one reason or another. No matter what transgression that one may have committed, one never loses the dignity of being a Child of God, and hence a brother or sister to us.
We’re called to do that. And in as much as we do, we become “beloved children of God, with whom God is well pleased.”
SO THEN as we look forward from this GREAT SEASON OF CHRISTMAS where we reflected on all the dimensions of the Mystery of Christ’s incarnation in our world, WE’RE CALLED NOW TO LOOK OUTWARD and seek to imitate the example of Christ in our world, our community, our circle of friends, truly “OUR WORLD” today.
May we seek to do THAT WELL and LEST WE GET LOST IN OUR WAY, let we remember that DURING THIS YEAR our nourishment, our direction comes from what we celebrate here NOT JUST DURING CHRISTMAS but EVERY SUNDAY, indeed _every day_ during the year and every year.
CHRISTMAS IS A GREAT SEASON. We've celebrated Jesus' coming among us. Now, let us seek as living, incarnate, members of the Body of Christ to live Christ's mission in our world during the rest of the year! May God bless us all.
Amen.
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