From the desk of the pastor for Jan. 12, 2025

The Lord be with you! Today we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. As we end our Christmas season and return to Ordinary Time, we reflect on how Baptism manifests God’s Mercy. Not only does Christ’s Baptism reveal Him as the Messiah but also as the Incarnate Son of God. In fact, the whole Christmas season can be understood as an extended theophany, a manifestation of God to man.

Before we can appreciate the significance of God’s appearance, we need to understand what is at stake: life itself. Let’s take the example of Moses on Mt. Sinai. When Moses has been God’s representative for a while, he asks God to reveal His Face. God explains that cannot happen, “The LORD answered: I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim my name, “LORD,” before you; I who show favor to whom I will, I who grant mercy to whom I will. But you cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live”’ (Ex. 33:19-20). We cannot see the Glory of God because He is limitless and we are not.

At the Burning Bush, with the Columns of Fire and Cloud, and at Mt. Sinai, God made his presence known. With the giving of the Law at Sinai, the Lord gave the Hebrews a way for Him to be present in their midst: the Ten Commandments. He then sent the judges and prophets to ensure that the Hebrews would remain faithful to this covenant in order to grow in their ability to know God.

The Baptism of Christ surpassed all of the theophanies of the Old Testament by revealing the Trinity. Having accepted the sin of Israel symbolically through His baptism, Christ arises out of the waters of the Jordan and is shown to be divine. The Father’s words still ring in our ears as we contemplate the grandeur of God’s Being and the humility of His Love for descending to earth.

Our own Baptism marks us as adopted children of God. By dying with Christ and rising with Him to new life sacramentally, we receive the first fruits of divine life within us. This most precious gift is entrusted to us for our salvation and the redemption of the entire world. Revelation reached its climax and completion with Christ; our own salvation and perfection, however, grows each day that we imitate the Lord.

The more we are like the Son, the more we can know Him and through Him know the Father and the Spirit. Just as God revealed Himself in stages through salvation history, He wishes to reveal Himself more and more to each of us. Each of our souls, being unique, is an unrepeatable place for God to appear. Let us all have the courage to say with Moses, “Please let me see your glory!”

In His Sacred Heart,
Fr. John