Life is full of beginnings and endings. There is nothing all that revolutionary about this observation, it’s simply one of those things about life that we learn from early on: people come and go, events have a start and a finish. In some cases, when one thing ends, that marks the beginning of something else. For instance, the end of December 31st, 2013 brought about the beginning of January 1st, 2014. The end of autumn brings about the beginning of winter, and the end of winter brings about spring. Of course, here in northern Minnesota the end of winter can be a little ambiguous. We can be a bit confused about what season we really are in. We know that eventually though, winter will be over and warmer times of spring and summer will follow close behind.
Our liturgical calendar, the order in which we celebrate the various Church seasons of the year, follows this pattern of the ending of one time of the year and the start of another. Today, with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, ends the season of Christmas. On Monday, we will begin the season of Ordinary. Then Lent will begin in March, and so on. Even the dates in which we celebrate some of these special days were chosen so that the beginning and ending of things in nature can help us learn the significance of our Catholic faith. Part of the reason the Church chose to celebrate Christmas Day in late December was because of its close proximity to the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. St. John the Baptist, when he was announcing the coming of Jesus as Messiah, said of Him, “He must increase and I must decrease”. Think about this: from June up until Christmas, the days got steadily shorter. The light was decreasing for us in the northern hemisphere. Since Christmas day, we are slowly but surely seeing longer days: the Sun is increasing. Again, this is all based on the end of one season of the year and the start of another.
The readings for today also speak of an ending and a beginning. Before Christ came, the world was in waiting for a savior. But with the coming of Christ, that time of waiting comes to an end. What the readings speak of is how Christ came to bring salvation to humanity by bringing us all closer to God. It is through Christ’s ministry here on earth that this is possible and that ministry begins with His baptism.
The Gospel from Matthew tells the story of the Baptism of Jesus. If you have ever wondered to yourself, “Wait a minute. Christ is the Son of God, He already has the Holy Spirit with Him because He’s God. He has no sins to be washed away by baptism. Why on Earth is Jesus being baptized by John?” you are not alone. St. John the Baptist even seems baffled by all this. We are told that, “John tried to prevent him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?’” Christ reminds him, however, that God has a bigger plan for all of this. He tells him, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Basically, Jesus is saying that they should do it this way, where John baptizes Jesus, so that they will follow the Father’s will to bring justice for people. The Father’s will is that we will all be baptized and brought closer to Him. By being baptized Himself, Christ gave us an example of what to do. He also sanctified the waters of the earth, making it possible for our baptism to mean so much more. Before this event, baptism simply meant a forgiveness of sins. After the sanctification of the waters, baptism not only forgives sins, but it also brings those who are baptized into God’s family and makes them a part of the Body of Christ. The whole action of baptism becomes so much more holy; it becomes a Sacrament!
The Baptism of Jesus also marks an important shift in the Gospels. If you look in your Bibles at what happens after the Baptism, we see that after this, Jesus goes into the desert to pray and is tempted by Satan. He then begins His ministry in Galilee. He ends His time of growing up in His hometown and then begins His ministry that will bring salvation. This shows all the more the importance of the Baptism of the Lord.
The other readings we heard today continue with this thought. Both the reading from Isaiah and the reading from the Acts of the Apostles talk about the Jesus doing His ministry and doing the will of God. Of course, Isaiah is in the Old Testament and doesn’t actually mention Jesus by name, only as this servant of God who will do the will of God and bring about justice and salvation for all of God’s people. In the Book of Acts, St. Peter preaches about the Good News of Jesus Christ. He talks about the important ministry that Our Lord provided as He went about healing the oppressed. Again, it was the Baptism of Jesus that we celebrate today that brought Him into this ministry.
So what exactly does this celebration have to do with us? This celebration should tell us about the importance of our own sacrament of Baptism. Just as Christ's Baptism began His preparation in the desert and His ministry, so also we should see our baptism as the beginning of the part we play in Jesus’ ministry.
When we were baptized and when we have our children baptized, we are too little to begin much of any ministry. Think of it as that preparation time in the desert. As we learn about the faith in Sunday School and receive the Sacraments however, we become more prepared to do ministry. That ministry doesn’t have to be as hard as it sounds. Part of it is living out our faith, just as we are doing right now in Church. We let others see that we are taking an hour out of our busy lives to spend time in Church. This can also include how we interact with others; being kind to others, not engaging in gossip or slandering others; not engaging in crude jokes or speech with others. These are just a few examples of how we can encourage others to live a good Christian life. Even though your baptism may have taken place a while back, let it remind you that you are called to ministry and to help bring others to Christ. Let it be a new beginning for you.
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