The Baptism of the Lord: the Path to BelongingRead Time 9 min

THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD
Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38
Matthew 3:13-17

Walking into Pick ’n Save with a short list of bananas, bread and milk, I recognized a gentleman who used to frequent morning Mass. “Where have you been?” I asked with a smile, thinking I would hear about a long vacation to a warmer climate. “I have been taking care of my wife,” he said with a serious tone. “She just finished 33 days of radiation treatments and two chemo treatments.” Stunned because it seemed that I had just seen them at Mass “yesterday,” I leaned into his story.

How can the rhythms of life become upended so unexpectedly, without warning, I pondered. Offering to pray for them with intent, we parted ways somewhere in the produce aisle.

In the dairy department, I met another older parish member, now with a cane, who had fallen a year ago, leaving her very vulnerable on the winter ice. I stayed present to her story of hospitals and a fragile husband at home. Joy showed up on her face when she told me her neighbor brings them Holy Communion each week. Taking our leave, I promised to pray for her, too.

And so, I met two others along the way that day with equally compelling stories of loss.

Bananas, bread and milk in hand, I got in the car thinking how their stories affected me. Like Thomas Merton on the corner of Fourth and Walnut in Louisville, Kentucky, I realized how I loved them and how we belong to each other. Now a saint, Mother Teresa of Kolkata said it in another context: The problem in the world is that “we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” Individualism is a myth, a deception —  for what happens to you touches me; what happens in my neighborhood affects who I am. Therefore, this special day when we reflect upon the Baptism of the Lord, we must see it as a highly relational sacrament, one that dispels the fallacy that we are lone rangers. For when we invite people into the waters of Baptism, we invite them into relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit; by extension, we become one with each other.

The relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus is one that needs to capture us anew. John probably came out of the desert experience with the Essenes, a community of very orthodox Jewish people who believed in ritual cleansing, prayer, fasting, the study of scripture and the avoidance of sin. For 200 years they were preparing for the coming of the Messiah. Though I don’t know if John ever met his cousin growing up (other than in the womb of his mother upon the Visitation), John knew in his heart that the Messiah’s arrival was imminent. John’s preparation for the Lord to come required a massive cleansing ritual. To be able to receive the Messiah, one needed to become aware of one’s sin because remaining in the darkness of sin would prevent one from embracing the Light of the World.

Therefore, John’s ministry was exceedingly important in preparing the human climate for Jesus’ public mission. Though John’s baptism invited people into a new and changed life, for Jesus it was altogether different. Jesus belonged to everyone and he identified with everyone. In the waters of Baptism, Jesus took a deep dive into his suffering and Death. He identified with all our sins. Jesus is, as it were, the true Jonah who said to the crew of the ship, “Take me and throw me into the sea.” (Jon. 1:12) Jonah’s descent stopped the storm and saved the people.

In “Jesus of Nazareth,” Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “The real novelty is the fact that Jesus wants to be baptized, that he blends into the gray mass of sinners waiting on the banks of the Jordan. We have heard that the confession of sins is a component of Baptism. Baptism itself was a confession of sins and the attempt to put off an old, failed life and to receive a new one.” Jesus identified with that dynamic. John protests, but Jesus answers him that this Baptism is fitting for him to fulfill all righteousness.

What does that mean? Pope Benedict continues: “In Jesus’ world, righteousness is man’s answer to the Torah, acceptance of the whole of God’s will, the bearing of the yoke of God’s kingdom.” It expresses solidarity with men (and women), who have incurred guilt but yearn for what is right. So powerful a moment was the Baptism of Jesus that the heavens opened where Jesus saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove upon him. He heard the voice come from heaven, the voice of his Father: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

In that moment, the public affirmation of Jesus’ identity and mission unfolds before all who witness it. The descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove signifies God’s blessing and the beginning of a new era, where the boundaries between heaven and earth are bridged through Christ’s obedience and love. This event marks not only the launch of Jesus’ ministry but also provides a profound example of humility and solidarity with humanity, emphasizing the sacredness of Baptism as a call to communal belonging and divine purpose.

I have not forgotten the people in Pick ’n Save that Saturday. Their lives show up in my prayer.

In many ways, they were a gift to me, part of my own baptismal identity, helping me remember we belong to one another.