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The Baptism of the Lord

​Short message from Fr. Lawrence R. Brito

      This weekend we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. It is the feast that concludes the Christmas Season. Like Last weeks celebration of the Epiphany, this week’s feast is also a great manifestation to the world of who Jesus is. This is the moment in which God reveals himself to humanity existing as a community of three persons which we call the Most Holy and Blessed  Trinity. Jesus the Son of the most high stands with repentant sinners, although he himself has no sin, and steps forward to be Baptist with a baptism of repentance. It is at this moment that the Holy Spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove and the Father speaks: “this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”.

Today is a good day to reflect on our own baptisms.

       What happens to us at baptism? There are two important things for us to reflect upon. The first is that our sin is wash away. The second is that we are brought into the family of God. We can now be called children of God as we are joined to the body of Christ the only begotten Son of God.

       St. John the Baptist is the greatest and the last prophet; there would be no other prophet after him. The kingdom of God has come. St. John would prepare the people by proclaiming a baptism of repentance: and announcing that the Kingdom of God is close at hand.

John’s great mission is to announce the arrival of Jesus the Messiah. Although John is “the greatest man born of Woman”, we have a greater than John in Jesus.

When John sees Jesus for the first time, he proclaims “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” In other words he is saying “Look here he is the one who will be sacrificed on the altar of God for our sake.” John points us to Jesus the one through whom salvation comes to mankind. Jesus says of John the Baptist “he is the greatest man born of Woman, but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” When we are baptized we are so closely connected to Jesus that we are called the body of Christ. We are one with Jesus. Jesus prayed one day to his Father. “Father I pray that they may be one as you and I are one”. It is in baptism that we become one with Jesus.

This is why we baptize our children; we want them to be united to Jesus as soon as possible. Amen