Today, we celebrate the feast of the Lord’s baptism, the feast that draws the curtain of the Christmas season and opens up the ordinary time of the Church’s calendar. Today, our baby Jesus of Christmas has grown to manhood, reaching a decisive moment in life, when he must fulfill the divine mission entrusted to him by the Father, as promised by the lips of the prophets.

In the first reading, Isaiah's prophecy speaks of hope and consolation for the people who had long awaited the coming of the Messiah. It assured them of the coming of the Lord with power and his arm subduing all things to him. For many centuries, the people had watched out for the signs of the coming of the Messiah until the baptism of Jesus by John becomes the signs that fulfills the prophetic plan of God for the salvation of the world.

The Gospel reading opens up with the feeling of expectancy among the people of the Christ spoken of by Isaiah in the first reading. In fact, the signs Isaiah gave was evident to them: John, who lived in the wilderness, fulfilled the voice that cries, in the wilderness. The baptism of repentance from sin that John preached fulfills the preparation for the way of the Lord that the voice cries. Hence, thinking that John might be the Christ, the whole people became baptized. During this process, Jesus the Messiah walks in and asked to be baptized. As he prayed after his baptism, in the presence of everyone, the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended on him in the shape of a dove, and the voice of the father came from heaven, declaring the divine sonship of Christ. Perhaps, this is not surprising, Isaiah had already told us that in the process of these preparations, “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all mankind shall see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.”

Dearly beloved, all these events are significant: Referencing Heb 4:15, that Christ was like us without any sin to be repentant of, we might be tempted to say there was no need for Christ to be baptized. However, the same reference point makes us realize that Christ was like us in all things, but sin – meaning he was like us even in baptism. Hence, in his baptism, Christ identifies with us in our sinful humanity, so that we can identify with him in his divinity – little wonder, heaven opened. Heaven's opening signifies that the power of this sacrament comes from above and that the baptized now have the road to heaven opened for them – a road which original sin had closed. Christ’s baptism thus becomes an exemplar of our own individual baptism. It underscores the importance and significance of our own baptism. By our baptism, we are placed on the road to salvation which Christ’s baptism opens up for us. How have we remained steadfast on the path of salvation? For some of us, our sinful lives have kept us off the track of salvation: This is the day to make a U-turn and fall back on track.

 At the moment of our baptism, we also received the Holy Spirit just as Jesus did, hence we became temples of the Holy Spirit, but how often do we treat ourselves as that temple? Rather than be a temple of the Holy Spirit, our bodies have become temples of pleasure where the sacrifices of immorality are offered. Secondly, the baptism of Jesus was a definitive aspect of his life, in that, it empowered and consecrated him for the mission of the Father. At our baptisms also we have been empowered and consecrated for the mission of spreading the kingdom of God, but unfortunately we do the contrary in the manner of the lives we live. Today, we are reminded to renew the commitments we made at our baptisms to reject Satan and all his empty promises, which our profane world offers us, and begin to live the life of the children of God, in thought, word and action. By so doing, we may enjoy the privilege of our heavenly father saying to each one of us, what he said to Jesus today “You are my beloved son/daughter, in whom I am well pleased.”

As we celebrate the baptism of the Lord today, we are encouraged to cherish the graces we have received, rekindle the fire of the Holy Spirit in us and make a U-turn in our lives in order to fall back on the track of salvation. May God help us as we make our resolves. Amen.