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Baptism of the Lord (A)                                                                                        Mt. 3:13-17

Over the last 18 days we have celebrated the great solemnity of Christmas. We have heard the genealogy of Jesus, the travels and trials of the Holy Family first to Bethlehem, then to Egypt, angels appearing and disappearing, the miraculous birth in an animal cave, hosts of angels, who called the poor shepherds to the side of the feeding trough. We hear about three Wise Men, maybe kings, but certainly Magi, who came out of the East to show homage to this Jewish Messiah and then disappear into the night. The Christmas-Epiphany mystery itself is not really one of celebration but one of divine humility and mystery.

After the the baptism of the Savior has been revealed the gospels go into a deep silence about the life of Jesus as he enters into his “hidden life”, which will last thirty years. We are not sure why God decided to keep this silence for so long but we can learn from the silence of this hidden life. We get a quick peek into the hidden life when, at 12 years old, Jesus gets left in Jerusalem for three days. Returning to Nazareth we know Jesus spent many years with his mother Mary, and working next to Joseph at the carpenter’s bench. Learning from Joseph the trade, the Torah and the prophets. He teaches us the sanctifying value of ordinary daily life and labor — as he earned his living by the sweat of his brow like the most ordinary of men. He teaches us the holiness of obedience lived out in love. The importance of obeying all of God’s commands by which he was subjected to circumcision, presentation in the Temple and being redeemed as the first-born child. God humbles himself by submitting to the authority of others preceded by his submission to the will of his Father.

In today’s Gospel Jesus appears at the Jordan River to be baptized by his cousin John. He is leaving his “hidden life” and prepares to launch his mission of Redemption of the world and to set in motion the steps of life that he knows will ultimately bring him to the cross and to the completion of his messianic mission. John is reluctant to baptize the one to whom he has so brilliantly witnessed. John knew who Jesus was, consider what he felt, what he thought. Here is a great dichotomy: John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth: John is a light in the presence of the sun, — a voice in the wilderness, in the presence of the Word of God, — the greatest man born of woman in the presence of the firstborn of all creation. — “I ought to be baptized by you,” John says. But Jesus convinces him that this must be done in order to fulfill the plan laid down by the Father. Jesus, who has come to fulfill his Father’s will is careful to fill that plan in all its details. Jesus, who is without sin, humbles himself by obedience and turning his heart to the Father like all the pious Jews who came to John the Baptist. 

As Jesus comes out of the water the first theophany of the Holy Trinity is manifested to John the Baptist and those bystanders with him. The Son is baptized while the Holy Spirit reveals himself as a dove descending upon him and the voice of the Father gives testimony for his Son. This revelation of the Trinitarian God is the kick-off of Christ’s Messianic mission and the sign of the importance of baptism, not for Jesus, but for all of us. Christians must be baptized in the name of the three divine persons so that the Son baptizes us, the Holy Spirit descends upon us and the Father accepts us as his sons and daughters.” 

We are baptized into Jesus, our Brother, thus we are sons and daughters of the almighty Father. We are now children of God, temples of the Holy Spirit and members of the Catholic Church. Today, therefore, is a day to recall our baptismal promises: Do we reject Satan and all his evil promises? Evil promises are hidden throughout the internet, pornography, and all the demonic cultural mores hidden by the culture of death. Have we fallen to these temptations with sins against faith, hope or charity?

We should ask Christ today to help us to remain faithful to our baptismal promises. We should thank him for allowing us to share in his mission of preaching the Good News by the way we live as Christians.  By the love we show to others, by the service we give to the Church and society. They will know we are Christians by our love. 

My Brothers and sisters, let us meditate on the true meaning of our baptism. Think of the magnitude of humiliation and suffering that God’s Son, endured in order that you and I could have eternal happiness. Contemplate what it means for God to become a man. When we consider our own earthly troubles, the aches of our soul and our physical pains, they will diminish in comparison to our loving, humble Lord. 

In the words of St. Gregory of Nanzianus, “Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit and inflame my heart with the joy of the Gospel. May I find joy in seeking to please you just as you found joy in seeking to please your Father."

 © JOSEPH MEILINGER 2026