The Baptism of the Lord
Homily Video
The Baptism of the Lord Homily Transcript
We certainly have been caught up in the beautiful mysteries of Jesus’ life over the past few weeks. first is his birth, his nativity, and then the Holy Family. And then last week the gods manifesting, putting forth the beauty of who is his son. We’ve been having these beautiful, beautiful celebrations of the life of Jesus, and today we come to, of course, his baptism. And I think his baptism does bring together so many of the mysteries that we’ve been celebrating. First of all, not only did Jesus find his identity in his holy family, he also found his identity very clearly when the heavens opened and God said, “You are my beloved son. And you, I am well pleased.” If that doesn’t speak of identity. I’m not quite sure what does. Jesus, God’s beloved son.And we also find the identity of Jesus in union with not only God, but also the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit came to rest upon Jesus after his baptism. What a beautiful way to proclaim this trinitarian God that we believe in: Father, Son and Spirit. Ithink that as we celebrate these mysteries of Jesus’ life, we also have to take a look at the mysteries of our own life. The last couple of weeks, I invite us to remember our own identity as God’s children and disciples of Jesus. And I think that each time I talk about being a disciple of Jesus or a missionary disciple of Jesus, I get all these phone calls from people saying, “What is-What are you talking about? A missionary disciple? I don’t quite understand that.” Let me give you a couple examples before we celebrate the rest of the mass. You know, there was a woman who asked me very clearly, you know, I don’t know, my kids don’t want to go to mass, I don’t get it. I asked her a very simple question, “Have you ever shared with your kids why you, you and your husband chose to baptize them many years ago? 23 years ago?” “No, I never. I never did tell them that baptism story. In fact, we were newly married. We were only about a year away from our marriage. We didn’t have a lot of money. We were in an apartment. We like this particular church that we found ourselves near. And so, we chose that church and we look forward to a life of Christ.” In Christ for you, our son, our daughter. And so, we baptized you, and we’re very proud on that very moment when wechose your godparents and brought you to church the first time. Did you ever tell your kids that story, the baptism story? Did you ever share with anybody, what happens in your heart after you receive communion? Did you ever share with anybody why it isthat you call yourself a follower of Jesus and what you find, the power and the salvation and the hope and the reconciliation that you find in Jesus? A missionary disciple means really not being afraid to share the beauty of our faith with our brothers and sisters. Jesus fully came into his own when he was baptized in the Jordan River. We, as disciples carry out that great mandate to share our discipleship with others as missionary disciples. May God strengthen us as we carry out and live out that missionto be disciples to the world.
Readings
First Reading:
Is 42:1-4, 6-7
Second Reading:
Acts 10:34-38
Gospel:
Lk 3:15-16, 21-22
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