The Baptism of the Lord - Year C - 10th January 2009

Baptism

When Advent began, we heard the words of Isaiah: "O that you would tear open the heavens and come down!" Today God answers this prayer. Jesus goes into the Jordan River to be baptized by John. Suddenly the skies open. God's Spirit comes down in the form of a dove. Then God speaks for everyone to hear: "This is my beloved." After this Jesus was sent forth in the power of the Holy Spirit to carry out the mission entrusted to him by the Father.

As we celebrate Jesus beginning his life's work, it's a good time to ask about our own lives. What do we think of as our life's work? What gives our life meaning? Some people define themselves by their work, by what they do. Some measure their success as human beings by the money they make and the things they own. Others get their greatest satisfaction from pleasure or fame or from the exercise of power.

All these things - work, ownership, pleasure, power - can be good, and often are. They're nice things to have but when they define us, when we find in them our whole sense of self, then we settle for being much less than we could be.

We too have been baptized into Christ and have received the Spirit. The Father says of us as He said of Jesus, "This is my beloved". And we too are sent forth on our mission to witness to the power and love of God.

We are most successful, as human beings, when we reach out to others in love - when we enrich the lives of others, when the welfare of another person means more to us than our own convenience. You and I are at our best not when we're achieving or owning or accumulating goods, but when we're giving, especially when we're giving of ourselves.

The baptism of Jesus, which we celebrate today, was the beginning of great things for him. Our baptism was the beginning of great things for us, for it was nothing less than a call to greatness. It is our challenge to be people who give of themselves.