Baptism of the Lord [A] Is 42:1-4, 6-7; Acts 10:34-38; Mt 3:13-17 

During the very brief Pontificate of Pope John Paul I (Albino Luciani; (August 26 — September 28, 1978),
an Irishman, Monsignor Magee, served as the Pope’s personal secretary.  As Papal secretaries are wont to do, the Monsignor spent much of his day with the Pontiff.  Each morning, he would serve the Pope’s private Mass in the Papal chapel in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. In a talk he gave some years ago, Magee recounts an incident where the Holy Father said, “Monsignor, every day now that I have been Pope, you have faithfully served Mass for me.  You have never been late and your service has been impeccable.  So, tomorrow, we are going to do things a little differently.  You will serve my Mass as usual at 6:30 in the morning.  After my Mass, we will exchange vestments and then I will serve YOUR Mass.” Understandably, Magee resisted, saying he could not permit such a thing.  The Pope replied, “Are you rejecting a wish of the Pope?”  Magee replied, “Well, your Holiness…”  The Pope answered, “Very well, then.  I knew you’d agree.”  And Magee did.  He recalls this moment with great fondness.  Here was the Pope – the Vicar of Christ and the Shepherd of 1 billion Catholics acting as an altar boy for a priest – a reversal of roles. This is somewhat analogous to the scene in today’s Gospel taken from St. Matthew.  Incidentally, it is an event recorded in all four Gospels.  We have the King of Kings, the Savior of the World asking John the Baptist for baptism. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

What is this righteousness that he talks about?

John the Baptist was from a priestly family. The book of Leviticus mentions how a priest is to be initiated. When the priests were initiated they were to be washed in water first. Book of Leviticus says in chapter 12. “Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water” (12:10). And 12:12 says: “He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him.” Then after vesting them with priestly vestments they were presented the bull for the sin offering and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head before that was offered. And another sheep was taken and the leaders of Israel laid their hands on its head symbolizing laying of the sins of Israel on its head and sent away into the wilderness carrying the sins of the people of Israel.(v.14). As the lamb that was driven away into the wilderness Jesus the eternal high priest and the lamb of God, the priest and the victim, goes in to the wilderness for 40 days and nights soon after baptism to pray and fast in preparation for taking away the sin of the world.

One time Jesus mentions his crucifixion as his baptism. I have a baptism to undergo and I wish it were over. It was at this baptism he really took away our sins. That is why pointing to Jesus John the Baptist mentioned Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. Priests, prophets and kings in the OT were washed and anointed by oil of Chrism before they were installed. Here Jesus becomes the Eternal High Priests and this is the righteousness or rightful things Jesus speaks about to John.  Remember,  we are also told that we become priests,  prophets and kings in the manner of Jesus Christ at our baptism.

Whatever happened to Jesus at baptism is happening to us at our baptism.

When Jesus was baptized the heaven opened and the Holy Spirit came down upon him as a dove and the voice said that this is my beloved son. Jesus knew this was to happen and that is one of the reasons that he wanted to be baptized, even though he had no need to be baptized.

He inaugurated his public activity by stepping into the place of sinners. By becoming one with the sinners he could make reparation on behalf of the sinners.

The Holy Spirit descended upon him after Baptism. The spirit whom Jesus possessed in fullness from his conception comes to rest on him. Jesus will be the source of Spirit for all mankind.

And the waters of Baptism were sanctified by the descending of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the water. And the Father spoke, this is my beloved Son. It was a confirmation to Jesus himself that he was ordained by the Father for the ministry of salvation.

At our baptism we all experience these things. When we are baptized in water we are washed clean. We get the Holy Spirit. The heaven that was closed to Adam is now opened for us. The heavenly Father accepts us as children in his Son Jesus.

Baptism makes us members of the Mystical body of Christ. We are cells and molecules in the mystical body of Christ of which he is the head. On his way to Damascus Paul was asked by Jesus Saul, why do you persecute me; not why do you persecute those believing in me. Every Christian is a member of the body of Christ. Matthew 25 : whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers you do it to ME. We get into the mystical body of Christ by baptism. While Jesus washing his feet Peter said, Lord I won’t let you do that to me. Jesus said if I don’t do this to you, you have no part with me. To get a part or share in Jesus’ life we need to get baptized.

Whether we like it or not we are connected with every other baptized member, just like organs are connected to each other in a body. And then, my problem becomes your problem, and your problem mine. Since we belong to the same body we cannot but be concerned about each other.

If baptism is the beginning of Christ’s life in us, beginning of divine life in us we need other sacraments to keep on living. If a baby doesn’t get food, he will starve to death. We need Eucharist and other sacraments to nourish us.

Most of us dipped the fingers of our right hand into the holy water font and blessed ourselves when we came into Church today.  Why?  This blessing is supposed to remind us of our Baptism.  And so when I bless myself with Holy Water, I should be thinking of the fact that I am a child of God; that I have been redeemed by the Cross of Christ; that I have been made a member of God’s family and that I have been washed, forgiven, cleansed and purified by the Blood of the Lamb.

We accepted Chelsea Bezold today as a Catechumen to join the mystical body of Christ. Her joining will help strengthen the body of Christ here at Sts. Peter and Paul. We are called to evangelize and let Christ’s body grow and surge more grace into each other and the world.

Let us ask Our Lord today to make us faithful to our Baptismal promises.  Let us thank Him for the privilege of being joined to His mission of preaching the “Good News” by our transparent Christian lives of love, mercy, service and forgiveness.

EPIPHANY OF THE LORD : Is 60:1-6; Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6; Mt 2:1-12 

The Greek word Epiphany (epiphanos), which means appearance or manifestation or showing forth, is used to describe Jesus’ first appearance to the Gentiles.  Originally the word Epiphany referred to the visit of a king to the people of his provinces. Epiphany is an older celebration than the feast of Christmas, having originated in the East in the late second century.  In Italy and Spain, the gifts traditionally associated with the Christmas season are exchanged on the feast of the Epiphany. In the Western Church, the feast commemorates the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.  In the Eastern Church, the feast also commemorates   the Baptism of Christ. The angels revealed Jesus to the shepherds, and the star revealed him to the Magi, who had already received hints of Him from the Jewish Scriptures. 

The Magi who came to worship Jesus "from the east" - were not Jews. This shows that Christ was the promised Savior of the entire world, of both the Jews and the Gentiles.

The sixth century Italian tradition, that there were three Magi, Casper, Balthazar, and Melchior, is based on the fact that three gifts are mentioned in Matthew’s Gospel:  gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Magi may actually have been Persian priests or Babylonian astronomers or Nabataean spice-traders. Eventually, however, they were pictured as representatives of different peoples and races.  The Orthodox Church holds that the Magi consisted of twelve Kings, corresponding in number to the twelve tribes of Israel.   Commentary on the Torah by Jewish rabbis suggested that a star appeared in the sky at the births of Abraham, Isaac and Moses.  Likewise, in the Book of Numbers (24:17), the prophet Balaam speaks of “a star that shall come out of Jacob.”  Stars were believed to be signs from God, announcing important events.   

In the stories of Jesus’ birth, two special groups of people came to visit the newborn babe: the shepherds and the Magi. The Church has no special feast to commemorate the visit of the shepherds, but we have this special feast of Epiphany today to celebrate the visit of the magi. Why is that? It is because the visit of the Magi is an eye-opener. The shepherds learnt of the birth of Jesus through a direct Revelation from angels appearing in the midnight sky, and they believed the Message. This is direct and supernatural Revelation. Many of us have no problem with that. The Magi, on the other hand, learnt of the birth of Jesus by observing a star. The star did not say anything to them. They had to divine and interpret this natural sign of the star to know what it meant and where it led.

The Epiphany can be looked on as a symbol for our pilgrimage through life to Christ.   The feast invites us to see ourselves as images of the Magi, a people on a journey to Christ.     Today’s Gospel also tells us the story of the Magi’s encounter with the evil King Herod. This encounter symbolizes three reactions to Jesus’ birth:  hatred, indifference, and adoration. First group headed by Herod planned to destroy Jesus. Second group, composed of priests and scribes, ignored Jesus. The third group — shepherds and the magi — adored Jesus and offered themselves to Him.

Today, many oppose Christ and his Church because of their selfish motives, evil ways and unjust lives. Children still have Herods to fear. In the United States alone, one and a half million innocent, unborn children are aborted annually.

The scribes, the Pharisees and the Jewish priests knew that there were nearly 500 prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures concerning the promised Messiah.  They were able to tell Herod the exact time and place of Jesus’ birth.   They were in the habit of concluding their reading from the prophets on the Sabbath day by saying, “We shall now pray for the speedy arrival of the Messiah.”   Unfortunately, they were more interested in their own selfish gains than in discovering the truth. Hence, they refused to go and see the child Jesus — even though Bethlehem was quite close to Jerusalem.  Today, many Christians remind us of this group.   They practice their religion from selfish motives, such as to gain political power, prestige and recognition by society.   They ignore Jesus’ teachings in their private lives.

Like the third group let us worship Jesus at Mass, every day if we can, with the gold of our love, the myrrh of our humility and the frankincense of our adoration.  Let us plot a better course for our lives as the Magi did, choosing for ourselves a better way of life in the New Year by abstaining from proud and impure thoughts, evil habits and selfish behavior and sharing our love with others in acts of charity.  Let us become stars, leading others to Jesus, as the star led the Magi to Him.   Let’s pray that Jesus the light of the world help us remove or lessen the darkness of the evil around us by being, if not like stars, at least like candles, radiating Jesus’ love by selfless service, unconditional forgiveness and compassionate care.