The day we were baptized was the most important day of our life.

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord January 10th, 2010

Today we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord; it officially marks the end of the Christmas season. Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, is an intensely Trinitarian event. The Father and the Holy Spirit manifest that while Jesus is true Man, He is at the same time true God, because He is the Son of God, co-equal to both the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Father by an audible voice and the Spirit by appearing visibly in the presence of a dove, testify that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Son of Man in whom the Father is well pleased; He is the long expected Savior of the world, our Savior.

At His baptism, Jesus is anointed as Priest, Prophet and King, the one who is to save the souls of men by proclaiming the truth men need to be saved. And then by becoming an offering for the sins of all mankind, He provides men with the means of grace, the sacraments, especially that of His true live giving Body and Blood, in order to follow that truth and so have life. He shows us the way to the Father; and so we are to listen to Him and do whatever He tells and commands us if we are to be saved and have eternal life and happiness.

But if Jesus is the Son of God--God Himself,( and He truly is), why did He have to be baptized? Obviously as true God, He could not have sinned. The simple answer is that Jesus did not have to be baptized; He did so for us. John the Baptist’s baptism only symbolized or signified what Jesus’ baptism of water and the Holy Spirit would later do in reality. By being baptized, Jesus literally sanctified the waters of baptism imparting them with the power not to just symbolize the washing of sin, but to actually do so. And through the washing of sin, the waters of baptism also truly impart to souls the gift of eternal life.

By his own immersion into the water Jesus literally place within the water the saving power of his death and resurrection. This was made apparent from the blood and water, which flowed from his pierced side as he hung on the cross. The water signifying the power of the waters of baptism to forgive sin and the blood signify the redemption of the world, the resurrection of his baptized faithful followers to new life in him.

However, Jesus baptism not only imparted to the waters of baptism the power to save us, it also gave them the power to recreate us into new creatures in Christ. As a result, Jesus' baptism not only manifest to the world who Jesus is, but who we are as well, how great dignity and our great destiny. Each one of us, through the waters of our baptism made holy by Jesus, have now become adopted Sons and daughters of the Father being able to call him Abba, or daddy. The baptism of Jesus manifest that we are children of God and so we are! After the holidays, we often times experience a letdown. Our expectations for the holidays were one thing and our experience is another. We can feel sad and depressed. We can think God has not come for us- he may be the savor, but for some else not me. It is in this feast that we find this is not true. We are the sons and daughters of God; we are beloved; we have a great dignity.

Just as the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and produced in her the God-man-Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit now descends on the Church and produces in her maternal womb, which is the baptismal rite, the rebirth of the children of men into the children of God. By the waters of baptism God fills each one of us with his own supernatural love and by doing so he raises our human love to a divine level. We are not only reconciled to Him, we now have new life, which is a share in his own divine life. We become divinized, we become like God, we share in His divine love and life, and so share in His own eternal happiness. And we are also empowered to share that divine love and life with others around us by living faithfully our baptismal promises.

Through our baptism, we become members of God’s family on earth, the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. Our baptism then opens up for us the sacramental graces from this Church that we need to be nourished in order to grow and reach maturity. Fed by Jesus’ own body and blood in the Holy Eucharist, we begin to be transformed into His image, and thus begin to already here on earth share in His glory. We are empowered to offer ourselves to Him at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass so that He may live again in us and so carry out in us His redemptive work for the salvation of souls in and through us. In our own bodies then we manifest to the world its one and only savior, He who is the only way to the Father, Jesus, in Whom we live and move and have our being.

O’ Christian soul realize you dignity, realize your great worth and realize you great responsibility to live like the child of God that you are. Through the waters of baptism an indelible sign as been place permanently on your soul, a sign forever that you belong now to Christ Jesus and through Him belong to the Heavenly Father. The day we were baptized was the most important day of our life. We must realize this great gift. In fact, we should celebrate the day of our baptism with greater joy than the day of our birth; our birth was merely the beginning of our earthly life, but our baptism was the beginning of our eternal life. Do you know the day of your baptism?

We must become like humble children, pure of heart and poor, realizing we must ask God to help us remain faithful to what our baptism demands. We must always remember, it is entirely possible for us to lose the graces of our baptism and so lose our friendship and eternal life with God. If we are children of God we can not commit any acts that go against our adopted divine nature. When we purposely, intentionally and with full knowledge commit serious sin, mortal sin, the divine life within us actually dies. God has chosen us and so we must choose Him by our love for Him by avoiding anything that offends Him.

And so, those who are children who really love God will show this love by keeping His Commandments which are a summation of the whole Gospel. And these commandments are summed up in the greatest commandment, which is a commandment to Adore God with our entire being, in other words to Love, by our worship and with our actions, the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul and mind so that he may fill us with His very love and His very divine life. The ways to practically live this commandment are found in the teachings of God’s Church, all of which are necessary if we are truly to love God and love neighbor, and live as true Sons and Daughters of the Father.

At our baptism we were given an incredible gift, but one in seed form. It is up to us whether that seed, the seed of eternal life and happiness dies within us or whether it grows to the maturity of holiness and eternal life forever in union with God and the saints. Lets us ask God for forgiveness for our failures to live our baptismal promises. Let us implore the mercy of God by making frequent use of the Sacrament of Confession, which both restores us to our original state of baptismal purity if we have lost it through mortal sin and strengthen us to live more deeply our baptismal promises.

Let us turn to our Blessed Mother for help. Blessed Mother, Queen of the Angels, please help us to become like children because children are poor and humble. And when we are poor and humble we can then truly adore and love Jesus and realize that we can love Him only because he has loved us first. God, creator of our souls, Father of our soul, we adore you we love you, help us to love you more, fill us with your love; we are your children, help us to be with you both now and forever. Amen.