We as human
beings, learn a lot about many different things during our lifetime. Various
psychologists and experts on these matters have pointed out that human beings
do not all learn the same way either.
Some are more visual learners, for example. Others learn more through listening and are
called auditory learners. Still others
prefer a kinesthetic learning style, which means they learn through touch or by
doing. In general, however, we tend to
learn through a combination of these styles.
Of course this wide variety of learning styles also means that there are
a wide variety of teaching styles as well.
Those of you who are teachers know the value of using a variety teaching
styles in order to teach a room full of students. We all teach and learn in different
ways.
Another
method of teaching that we should not discount is teaching by example. This is often brought up in conjunction with
parents teaching their children good manners and how to behave: they try to
give a good example of how to do those things.
This can also be effective in helping pass on the importance of faith
and religion to others. Parents who are
able to give an example of how their Catholic faith brings them joy and
happiness will likely pass along that joy and happiness to their children. On the flip side, an example of living out
the faith like it is a burden or a difficulty that one must endure is likely to
give a very negative outlook on religion to the children. A wide variety of skills in this life can
also be taught by simply showing a good example of how to do those skills.
I remember
watching a special done on the news show, “20/20”. It was made sometime in the 90's and was
about a man named William Lishman.
William adopted a gaggle of young Canada Geese who were abandoned by
their parents. William eventually earned
the nickname “Father Goose” because these geese followed him around his
property like he was a surrogate parent.
All was going well, but William knew that eventually they needed to
learn how to fly south or they would freeze to death in the winter. Apparently, the concept of flying south isn't
just done on instinct alone, at least not with Canada Geese. A parent has to teach it's young how to flap
its wings and build up speed in order to fly and then to head south to warmer
climates. Since geese can't talk, the
adult geese do this by example. Despite
not having any wings of his own, “Father Goose” came up with an ingenious plan
to teach his flock. He used a homemade
ultra-light aircraft to teach the birds how to fly. As I recall it took several trial runs, but
after some time they learned to follow him into the air and to fly with
him. He was finally able to lead them south
in his aircraft before winter came. Not
only did he teach them how to fly by example, he even taught them how to
migrate.
Now
obviously, we are not being taught to fly south or migrate for the winter,
though I'm sure there are some people who love it if that were the case. However, we are able to learn quite a bit
about other things through the example of others, as I mention before. Jesus Christ strives to teach us many things
through the example of His holy life.
His baptism in the River Jordan is one such example.
On the
surface, the Baptism of the Lord seems like a pretty straight forward thing:
Jesus goes down to the Jordan where His cousin John the Baptist has been
baptizing and is baptized. We see a
manifestation of the Holy Trinity as well, with God the Father speaking, the
Holy Spirit appearing as a dove, and Jesus the Son of God in the midst of it
all. We can read all of that right in
the Gospel reading for today. This still
leaves a question that is still a very important one to ask: Why is Jesus being
baptized anyway? Think about it: We know
Jesus is the Son of God, why would He need to get any closer to God. Also, He is already a part of the Holy
Trinity so He has no need to actually receive the Holy Spirit like the rest of
us do. Finally, Jesus was free from sin,
so He had no need to be forgiven for any sins.
Why get baptized?
I recently
read a sermon written by a bishop of the 5th Century named St.
Maximus of Turin. The sermon is about
the mystery of the Lord's baptism and why it is considered so important. He starts by showing the connection and the
similarities that this feast has with Christmas. He says, “At Christmas he was born a man;
today he is reborn sacramentally. Then
he was born from the Virgin; today he born in mystery. When he was born a man, his mother Mary held
him close to her heart; when he is born in mystery, God the Father embraces him
with his voice when he says: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased: listen to him.” The saint explains that this is why Jesus came
to be baptized. Just as the Season of
Christmas makes known who Jesus is as a human being, so also the Feast of the
Baptism makes known who Jesus is sacramentally and spiritually. He does this so that we may be made holy as
well. He continues in his sermon,
“Someone might ask, ‘Why would a holy man desire baptism?’ Listen to the answer: Christ is baptized, not
to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by his cleansing
to purify the waters which he touched.”
Thus, even though Jesus did not need to be baptized, His baptism made
our baptism so much more. Our baptism
cleanses us, purifies us, and makes us adopted sons and daughters of the most
high God.
St. John
explains in his first letter that we become children of God by believing in Him
and in His Son, Jesus. It is through our
relationship with the Father and the Son that we are able to consider ourselves
to be apart of this wonderful family. It
all begins with our own baptism: maybe as an infant, a small child, maybe as an
adult who came in a little later. It
doesn’t matter at all when we came in to this family, so long as we did. We wouldn’t have known to enter in to this
wonderful family if we were not first lead by Christ. He led us by example by being baptized first. Let us celebrate this great feast in which we
were led to our family in Heaven.
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