BAPTISM RESTORES LIFE TO OUR SOULS

 

Homily for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Year C

Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch

Scriptural Texts: Isaiah 40:1-5.9-11, Titus 2:11-14. 3:4-7, Luke 3:15-16.21-22

 

Today is the feast of the baptism of the Lord and with this celebration, we officially conclude the Christmas season. Today’s feast comes to refresh our minds on the meaning and importance of baptism as a sacrament. As the first of the three sacraments of initiation, baptism is the doorway to the new life of faith. The fact that the baptism of the Lord took place at the beginning of his public ministry goes to show us that the sacrament of baptism gives us our identity and introduces us to our mission as Christians.

The baptism of John which Christ received and which we read about in today’s gospel reading is a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4). As such, Jesus, being sinless (Hebrew 4:15), had no need to be cleansed by the waters of baptism. But by his voluntary descent into the Jordan, he sanctified the waters of baptism. Jesus came forward to be baptized by John not for his own benefit but for our own benefit. Through his baptism, he identified with us sinners so as to liberate us. Also, his baptism is salvific because it foreshadows his death and resurrection. The descent (immersion) into the waters is a form of death and burial and his emergence and rising after baptism is a form of resurrection.

The effect of Christ’s baptism was different because he was without sin. But for us who inherited Original Sin, we all came into the world with a soul that is supernaturally dead. What this means is that the supernatural life which is the result of God’s personal and intimate indwelling, is absent from the soul at birth. The Original Sin is a spiritual vacuum that makes us unable to participate in the life of God. But through the sacrament of baptism, grace is given to our soul. This grace is given for two basic reasons: to wash and heal us of the wounds of Original Sin, and to enable us carry out works of supernatural virtue. This grace which we receive at baptism is known as the sanctifying grace and it is the grace for personal holiness or union with God. It is the grace that dissipates the spiritual emptiness of Original Sin.

As Jesus during his baptism, was revealed as the beloved Son of the Father, so too do we receive a new identity in baptism as adopted children of the Father. While Jesus is the Son of God by generation, we are God’s children by adoption. Or as St, Paul says in the second reading, through baptism, we become heirs of heaven (Titus 3:7). The fact that we are adopted children of God means that we possess some dignity and status. We should always strive to ensure that our way of life does not betray our status as adopted children of God.

Lastly, on the feast of the baptism of the Lord, our attention is once again drawn to those promises we made (either directly or indirectly) on the day of our baptism. We denounced Satan, his works and vain enticements. We also pledged our unalloyed belief and loyalty to the Triune God and to other doctrines of our faith. We are called upon today to make a personal assessment of our efforts. Have we been faithful to our baptismal promises or have we accepted what we denounced and denied what we professed? We pray that the Lord may keep granting us the grace to be faithful to our baptismal promises.