Christmas V Baptism of the Lord

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

2021 Cycle B – Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-38; Mark 1:7-11

When each of us was born the world did not stop and take notice, did it? On the day you and I were born, like every birth, galaxies continued to gracefully spin, empires and governments went about their business, half the world was going to bed while the other half was getting ready for work, rivers continued to gently flow as tides rose and fell. This realization puts life in perspective doesn’t it? Especially when the same non-response of the universe will happen when we die.

Would it have been any different for a child born to a peasant couple of a stubborn minority religious group in a backwater part of an enormous, efficient and disinterested Roman Empire? Did we ever consider that for all our expressions of faith in the stories of singing angels, star gazing astrologers and fulfilled prophecies, when Jesus of Nazareth was born, no one noticed? The eternal and almighty God as it were just quietly and unassumingly slipped into our world.

And did we ever consider that as we often look for God in extra-ordinary miraculous events, that as we believe prayer somehow has power over God, or that our conceptions of God are not God, God continues to be quietly revealed among us “not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street”.  God’s presence among us is so gentle that a bruised reed shall not be broken, and a smoldering wick shall not quenched.

I wonder if a gift of the pandemic is that life has, for many of us, had to slow down and gotten quieter. It is an experience in which to listen to a God who speaks to us in whispers and whose deft footsteps can barely be heard lest the reed be broken and the wick quenched. Our God is never who we want God to be nor is our God revealed in the manner we want and so we sons and daughters like the first disciples and apostles are often frustrated.

When Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordon he waits in line with everyone else; an ordinary carpenter from Galilee with his tell-tale accent. And when the heavens are torn open for the Spirit’s descent and a voice speaks, it is only Jesus who sees and hears anything. The eternal Trinity quietly and unassumingly slipping into our world.

If these are the qualities of our God, quiet, unassuming, gently moving through our lives, what are the inferences that we can make for how we as the Church, are to best live out our Christian lives? How in this manner of our God do we pass on the faith to our children? How best do we tell the good news of Jesus Christ to others and invite them into a relationship with him. How do we bring about the “victory of justice”?

Jesus taught us that we should act like yeast. A little yeast affects the whole batch of dough [Matthew 13:33]. He taught us that we are salt. A small amount of salt can enhance the flavor of a meal [Matthew 5:13]. Jesus proclaimed us light. The smallest light can shatter the most profound darkness [Matthew 5:14]. Jesus taught us we should act in such a way that our left hand does not know what our right hand is doing [Matthew 6:3].

Thus might we be called in these days to make a difference by moving in and out of our families, circles of friends and coworkers and society working to bring about the victory of justice like our God: “not crying out, not shouting, not making [our] voice heard in the street”.  

What is the victory of justice?

The victory of justice, that is, biblical divine justice is not the same as political human justice though there are implications for human justice. Biblical justice involves working to make individuals, communities, and the cosmos whole by healing that which is broken and binding up that which is wounded. It is about acknowledging that all creation is interconnected since a tremor or destruction of one part of universe resonates throughout the whole of creation.

The victory of justice includes, in quiet, unassuming ways the passing on of the Catholic Christian Faith to our children and children’s children by a consistent example. An example of personal and family prayer, communal worship and service to our world. Biblical justice is offering words of support and hope, correction or challenge to people who need to hear “a well-trained tongue to speak a word that will rouse them” [Isaiah 50:4]. It is found in the people seen only by God who enter our church and leave food for the hungry or who stop in to quietly pray.  The victory of justice is a mom who dips her infant’s hand in holy water making the sign of the cross and explains to her children they are buying extra food to bring to the food pantry. It is a dad who explains to his sons that he is bringing his extra unused clothes to Family Services and shares a hymnal with a teen during Mass singing with strength. Biblical justice is an individual who writes to their legislature representatives in regard to a moral issue of the day expressed through their Christian values or a household that makes decisions that are best for the environment. The victory of justice is stopping a bully at any age and caring for the person who bullies as well as the victim.

For a very long time the Catholic Church has been the “big boy” on block of history and society. Today our credibility is regularly mocked, our teaching authority unheeded, and our reputation tarnished even among the Catholic populace. Might it be time to pull back a bit and go back to basics? Not to lick our wounds nor to retreat from society but reflect on what is essential, a quiet, consistent and nonconforming Christian lifestyle that reveals Jesus Christ.

A gentle life slipping in and out of people’s lives like a unnoticed newborn; so gentle that a bruised reed shall not be broken, and a smoldering wick shall not quenched.

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PLEASE NOTE: Homilies presented here are also being videotaped and put up on the Saint Mary, Oneonta website: http://www.SMCCOneonta.org.