Baptism of the Lord

Christmas V – The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Psalm 29; Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38; Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

Luke doesn’t even record the actual baptism of Jesus like Matthew and Mark, but only reports it from hind sight: “After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized…”

We can surmise that Jesus simple got in line with everyone else. He wasn’t noticed among the crowd who were broken by the wear and tear of this world, damaged and sinful, some of whom had all but given up on themselves and possibly their God.

This is what is so glorious and scandalous and salvific about Christianity. There is nothing—nothing—that is human that God is not willing to enter into to be in solidarity with us. It was like Jesus’ birth, God quietly disappeared into a sea of infants and took time to grow up. So Jesus got in line with everyone else and disappeared into an ocean of brokenness and sin. Sin and brokenness that would eventually be nailed to the cross in Jesus’ person. The Innocent One would be recognized as one who was guilty.

We want to separate sinful humanity from divinity but our God has chosen to immerse divinity in sinful humanity so as to take it up to heal and glorify it through our Jesus Christ. Nothing of our human experience therefore is foreign to our God.

In this light it is worth asking the question whether we the church truly identify with sinners and are willing to get in line with them. Do we welcome and work with sinners, damaged and broken people to become one in Christ Jesus? I suppose it first means we need to recognize and name our own sinfulness and brokenness.

Francis has given us the image of a ‘field hospital’. You don’t worry about a person’s cholesterol if they are hemorrhaging, do you? Yet more and more people are leaving the church. Some people are leaving the Church because they don’t want to accept its sinfulness, its broken and damaged life. Which might mean they do not want to accept the brokenness within their own lives.

What is more disappointing and sad to me is how many people when encountering difficulties in life, relationship issues, death and dying issues or sickness take that experience as the opportunity to drop out of the life of the church.

When you would expect that a person would most want and need the community of the Church to be present, to pray and worship together, and to celebrate Sacraments of healing and strength, is when people absent themselves. Many Catholics seek help from other caregivers and only maybe return afterward to the Church.

Jesus got in line with sinners, with people who were damaged, with the spiritually lost and those who are seeking and was baptized with them.

That might be worth remembering and reflecting on.