THE FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD (2026)

THE FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD (2026)

Readings [for Year A]:

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7

Psalms 29:1-4, 6-7

Acts 10:34-38

Matthew 3:13-17

[IN AN EFFORT FOR COMPLETE TRANSPARENCY, THE REFLECTION PRINTED BELOW WAS USED IN 2026.  WEEKLY DOCTOR’S APPOINTMENTS, TWO MEMORIAL REFLECTIONS, AND LIFE IN GENERAL, HAVE PREVENTED ME FROM COMPLETING A NEW REFLECTION.  THE READINGS LISTED FOR SUNDAY HAVE BEEN AMENDED TO REFLECT THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS.  MY APOLOGIES.]

Saint Maximus of Turin has a wonderful take on the baptism of Jesus: “Today, [Jesus] is baptized in the Jordan.  What sort of baptism is this, when the one who is dipped is purer than the font, and where the water that soaks the one whom it has received is not dirtied but honored with blessings?  What sort of baptism is this of the Savior, in which the streams are made pure more than they purify?”  So strong is the tradition of Jesus’ baptism that a version appears in all three synoptic gospels.

It is most problematic in the oldest gospel of Mark (1:9-11) where the baptism of Jesus is so closely linked with John’s baptism, which is said to be “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (1:4).”  The early church clearly recognized the tension of the Holy One submitting to such a baptism, which is evident in Matthew’s version which has John the baptizer trying “to prevent Jesus, saying ‘I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?”  Jesus virtually says it is part of God’s plan, telling John “allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

In spite of the people’s excitement, and their wondering whether John might be the Messiah, John is very clear that he is not the One who is to come.  Jesus then, and still, makes it clear that our genuinely Christian living begins with a baptism that forgives original sin (that linked to Adam and Eve, a theological concept not thought of until a much later time in the Church’s history).  Just as His baptism marks the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, so it begins our commitment to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and live as Christ taught us how no I to live.  Our baptism empowers us to live the life of Jesus, and it was a sign to Jesus that all that still lay hidden from His eyes was part of God the Father’s plan for Him.

Jesus is not just going through the motions, pretending to be like all the other people who were baptized at that time.  The stories of His birth and early life (finding in the Temple) surely raised questions in the mind of Jesus about why He might be so special.  He no doubt wanted to be one with the peoples He was sent to redeem, and He was one with them.  And yet as we find so often in the gospels there is more, for at Jesus’ baptism “heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with You I am well pleased.’”

Our baptisms are made all the more special because, unlike the hundreds of baptisms John must have performed, the Holy Sprit came down on ours and claimed us as a child of God.  The baptism we all received is more like that of the Holy One of God, than that of the hundreds who flocked to John in the hope of having their sins forgiven.  At the outset of His ministry even Jesus needed the assurance that He was on the right path, which is why the voice from heaven speaks directly to Him – “Youare my beloved Son,” and “with you I am well pleased.”

As Sr. Mary Mc Glone says, “Jesus’ baptism reveals that He was an ordinary and deftly religious man who had to grow and pray and seek the movement of the Spirit in His life and in the world around Him.  Rather than think of Him as a divine character pretending to be one of us, we know Jesus as God’s image and the model of what human beings can be.”  Paul in his letter to Titus sums up what this feast is all about: “When the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.”