Saint Cyril of Jerusalem Catholic Church

The Baptism of the Lord is the Feast which brings the Christmas Season to a close and begins the Ordinary Time of the Church year.  It is with this event that Jesus began His public ministry.

John’s main function is to prepare the way for Jesus Christ and announce His coming.  Jesus is the one who will bring the Spirit of God to us, because He is the Son of God and possesses the fullness of the Spirit.  John warned about the consequences of  sin and pleaded  with people to turn from the way of death; Jesus will be the one who will provide us with the means of escaping sin and death.

John announced Jesus as the one who would Baptize with the Holy Spirit and execute Gods’ judgement.  We think of the Holy Spirit as the one who gives us the strength to obey God’s laws, and we think of the  judgement as something that will happen at the end of time, when Jesus will come again.  There is truth in this.  But in John’s eyes, being good was something that people needed to begin doing right away, to prepare for the  judgement that Jesus would bring when he came the first time.  There was therefore urgency to John’s message. We may need a dose of this urgency now, to jolt us out of any complacency we might have about God’s judgment.  Remember, Jesus baptizes with both the Holy Spirit and fire.

The Baptism of the Lord is the turning point in the life of Jesus.  Before His Baptism Jesus was by all appearances only a village carpenter.

After His Baptism Jesus began to teach and heal and announce the reign of God.

What happened at Jesus’ Baptism?  The Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and a voice from Heaven pronounced, “you are my beloved Son”.  Jesus, conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit, was already the Son of God from  birth.  Jesus’ Baptism by  John was the occasion for His identity to be revealed.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell

This account of Jesus’ adolescence is the only passage in the Gospels that speak about  Jesus’ life between His birth and His Baptism by John the Baptist.  The center of the narrative is verse 49: “did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”  The passage can also be translated “involved in my Father’s business” or “about my Father’s work.”

For the first time in the Gospel, Jesus calls God “my Father.” No matter which translation you use, the key idea is that as Gods’ Son, the purpose and goal of Jesus’ life is in relationship to His Father and in obedience to His will.

The account is filled with the anguish, confusion and shock experienced by a parent with the first harsh realization of adolescent independence.  Jesus seems pulled between the compliant obedience He owed His parents and a higher calling  involving His unique relationship with God.

It is difficult for us to simultaneously grasp the humanity and divinity of Jesus.  Our images of Him usually reflect one or the other aspect of His identity, but rarely both.  Today’s reading weaves the two dimensions together and gives us a great deal to ponder.

Luke tells us something important about the hidden years of Jesus’ life.  He tells us that Jesus ”grew and became strong”; “he advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.”  He was obedient to Joseph and Mary.

In that Holy Family God prepared His Son to save us from sin and open the gates of heaven for us.  That remarkable Holy Family is an example of love and obedience to God’s will which each and every family of our parish should imitate.

HAVE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS WEEKEND!