Blessed Mother, Queen of the Angels, Mother of all the baptized, please help us to become like children because children are poor and humble.

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Sunday January 11th, 2015

This Sunday, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, marks the end of the Christmas season. It is also the last of the three feasts that celebrate three different manifestations of our Lord—Christmas, Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord. All of these feasts celebrate three separate events in which Jesus is manifested to the world, revealing to us who Jesus was and is—He is God in the flesh. And, He is God still with us in the flesh in the Holy Eucharist.

On Christmas, Jesus the mighty One was made manifest when He became visible to the entire world as a humble, poor, defenseless little child. To the poor shepherds, the Angels testified; “for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Then on epiphany, this Messiah was revealed and manifested as the light of the nations by the coming of the three wise men, representing the entire gentile world. Now on this great feast day, we have the greatest manifestation of Jesus-the Baptism of the Lord. This is the greatest manifestation of Jesus because of Who testifies to the identity of Jesus. And who testifies is not an angel, nor wise men, but God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Theirs’ is obviously the definitive testimony of the person of Jesus Christ because it is the definitive testimony of God Himself, Who cannot deceive nor be deceived.

At Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, which 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 from all eternity to both the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Father by an audible voice and the Spirit by appearing visibly like a dove descending upon Him, both testify that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Son of Man in whom the Father is well pleased. Jesus is then anointed by the Holy Spirit as Priest, Prophet and King, the One who is to save the souls of men by offering Himself as an offering for the sins of all mankind to obtain for them the grace and the power to live His truth and so live as children of the heavenly Father. And so we are to listen to Him and do what He tells and commands us through the teachings of His Holy Church if we are to be saved and have eternal life and happiness with God.

But if Jesus is the Son of God--God Himself( and He truly is), why oh 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. (A little aside, water from the Jordan river never has to be blessed because Jesus descended into it and blessed it, touch it by its coming into contact with His body and blood, with His very Person…blessing=to be touched by God). And so, through the washing of sin the waters of baptism also truly impart to souls the gift of eternal life and the means to reach it through the Theological Divine Gifts of Faith, Hope and Charity.

By his own immersion into the water Jesus literally place within the water of baptism 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 and 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 it the power to rebirth, recreate, regenerate us into new creatures in Christ and become one with God. And so, Jesus baptism then not only manifest to the world who Jesus is, but who we are as well, we who have shared in His baptism. It’s not just about being saved, but being saved by becoming One with God.

By Jesus Christ coming as one of us, by His sanctifying the waters of baptism, both by His own baptism not only of water but by the blood of his passion and death, he reveals the truth about what we are called to be, what is 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! We hear this so many times, we say the Our Father so many times, that we can easily become complacent to what it really means to be a Child of God-image we are children of the almighty and all-powerful God-Creator of all things!

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 life. We become divinized, we become like God. We begin to share in His divine love and life, and so begin to share in His own eternal happiness. We are also empowered to share that same divine love and life with others around us through the faithful living out of our baptismal promises.

Through our baptism, we are also members of God’s family the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. Our baptism opens up for us the sacramental graces 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 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 our own bodies we then are to 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. We are to be prophets of Jesus Truth by living the truth for all to see. And it is Holy Mother Church who provides us with the means to strengthen, to perfect and to bring to fruition the Faith, Hope and Charity that we were given in our baptism. We are to cooperate and use these gifts in order that we and others whom with we share these divine gifts, may reach eternity when God will be fully manifested, fully revealed to us to look upon forever—the ultimate and final manifestation.

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 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, Pope Francis once recommended that 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 we know the day of our 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. It is 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 must with God’s help 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 striving to keep 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, 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. This begins with adoring the Holy Eucharist as the True and living God truly present in the Flesh in order to be empowered to adore God with our lives by following His truth as found in the teachings of God’s Church, all of which are necessary if we are truly to love God and love neighbor. This is what it means to do whatever He tells us.

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, Mother of all the baptized, 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, the Poor and Humble God in the Holy Eucharist in order to love our neighbor as ourselves for love of Jesus. O God, creator of our souls, Father of our soul, we adore you we love you, help us to love you and adore you more, fill us with your Divine love; we are your children, help us to be one with you both now and forever. Amen.