Reflecting on Today's Readings

Today's Readings
January 13, 2013
Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

First Reading: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11 or Is 40:1-5, 9-11
 Psalm:  Psalm 104:1b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30 or Psalm 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10
Second Reading:  Acts 10:34-38 or Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7
Gospel:  Luke 3:15-16, 21-22


There are a lot of options for today's readings.  I suggest you read all of them.  Because it is difficult to imagine which parishes will use which readings, I am primarily going to focus on the Gospel for this Sunday, because that should be the exact same everywhere!

Today's Gospel is very short.  Only a few lines.  And yet, they speak volumes to our hearts.  It is the Baptism of the Lord that we read.  When I have prayed about the meaning and importance of this passage before, it tends to be a little bothersome to me.  Why does Jesus even need to be baptized?  Isn't baptism supposed to make us a little more like Him?  If so, then Him being baptized is almost like Him trying to become like us.  Is that possible?  The answer, of course, is yes!  It is possible!

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has this to say about this scene:  "The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God's suffering Servant.  He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already 'the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.'  Already he his anticipating the 'baptism' of his bloody death.  Already he is coming to 'fulfill all righteousness,' that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father's will:  out of love he consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins.  The Father's voice responds to the Son's acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in his Son.  The Spirit whom Jesus possessed in fullness from his conception comes to 'rest on him.'  Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind.  At his baptism 'the heavens were opened' - the heavens that Adam's sin had closed - and the waters were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation" (CCC 536).

Yes!  If that doesn't make you excited, read it again!  Everything that is special about our God (vs the gods of other faiths), is that our God does make Himself like us, in order for us to understand Him!  Our God became a human, and not some super high powered human who is out of touch with the majority of the people, but He made Himself small, almost to the point of being weak.  Although, that is not true.  I'd say meek is a better word to describe Him.  After all, it is the combination of power and gentility that makes one meek (vs weak), and Jesus has that down to an art!

We just celebrated Christmas, which is the time when God was born into this world, so that we could understand Him.  Let me tell you, if it wasn't for the fact that humans are here, He would not have done that!  I know it sounds obvious, but I think that we take it for granted.  We tend to think that it's obvious that Jesus was here.  No.  It's not.  He didn't become like the angels.  It seems like He is constantly trying to convince us of His love.  You don't see Him do that with other creatures/creations.  He didn't become a fish, or a monkey, or a spider, or a flower, or a mountain, or a planet, or a cloud.  He came as a person.  That makes us pretty special.

Now we get to see Him be baptized.  What a special gift.  To be numbered as one of the sinners!  What humility!  What love!  I heard a comedian (whose name I can't recall) say, "well, I felt really bad for the guy.  I mean, I've never been accused of a crime I didn't do!"  Which, of course, implies that he has only been accused of doing crimes he has done.  I think that tends to be a great fear for people:  to be accused of a crime they didn't do.  And yet, that's exactly what Jesus did.  And that's the role that He begins to take on all the way back with His baptism.

Jesus has great hope.  He knows that after His death comes His resurrection and ascension into Heaven.  And the coming up out of the waters of baptism is efficaciously symbolic of the fact that we, too, will rise out of the waters of death and into life with Christ.

"What does this have to do with me?" you ask.  "How can I apply this to my own life?"  Well, it's quite simple, really.

Humility.

I had a friend in high school who could have been very popular, had she chosen to be.  I wasn't exactly the cool kid, but this girl was my friend.  My very good friend.  And that fact always amazed me.  Why would she want to be friends with someone like me?

Humility.
 
Take Jesus' example of humility.  He was baptized for our sake, not His.  He would have been "saved," so-to-speak, whether or not He had been baptized.  He made Himself like us, so that we could be like Him.  Ask yourself, where are the places in my life where I could use a little more humility?  Do I think myself above others?  Who?  Why?  How can I "lower" myself to become like them, so that we can be more like equals?  Do I believe that I should "lower" myself, or that they should "raise" themselves?  Of course, I don't mean here that you should take on other people's sins.  But, then again, Jesus didn't do that, either.  Jesus made Himself like us in all ways but sin, and then He died for our sins.  Wow!  How can I be more like Jesus in that way?