First Reading: Isa 42:1-4.6-7; Psalm: 29. R. v. 1; Second Reading: Acts 10:34-38; Gospel: Matt 3:13-17

THE REVELATION OF A NEW BAPTISM AT THE JORDAN

BY FR VALENTINE NNAMDI EGBUONU, MSP

“Our Lord was baptized because He wished, not to be cleansed, but to cleanse the waters, that, being purified by the flesh of Christ that knew no sin, they might have the virtue of baptism.” (St Ambrose)

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord brings to an end the Christmas season. Tomorrow, we shall begin the ordinary time of the year. It was St Ambrose who said, “A righteous man does first that which he wants another to do, and so encourages others by example.” So to fulfil all righteousness; to do whatsoever was just, fit, and requisite to our world; Jesus went to John for baptism. Jesus did not accept baptism from John because he needed it. But he wished to identify with sinful humanity and to show that it was just and right to be baptised.

The baptism we celebrate in the Church today is not the baptism of John but the baptism of Jesus Christ administered in the name of the Trinity who bore witness to Christ at the Jordan. The baptism of John which is the baptism of repentance came to an end with the death of John. But the baptism of Christ came to birth with the death of Christ on the cross. At Jesus’ baptism, he revealed the kind of baptism he came to establish. A baptism with the water sanctified by his very self when he entered it. A baptism to be administered in the name of the Trinity who bore witness to him at the waters of the Jordan. And a baptism that adopts us to become the beloved sons and daughters of God.

This is why today in the Church, prior to the pouring of the baptismal water, the priest at Easter vigil blesses the water by dipping the Paschal candle signifying Christ three times into it. Or outside Easter, simply blesses the water and dipping his hands into it. Afterwards, he baptises with this water in the name of the Trinity who adopts the baptised into the family of God. This is the new baptism revealed by Christ at the Jordan and offered to the Church on the cross of Calvary. This is also the very baptism the Church celebrates in the sacrament. The baptism that washes away our sins unlike that of John. So as we celebrate the baptism of the Lord today, we recall our own baptism and ask God for the grace to keep the promises we made to him.

 PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Lord Jesus, grant us the grace to keep to our baptismal promises. Amen.