Baptism of the Lord

 

Today is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. In the Gospel today, after all the people had been baptized and Jesus was also baptized by Saint John the baptist, when Jesus was praying, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove. A voice came from heaven, saying, “You are my beloved So; with you I am well pleased.”

The people who witnessed the event heard the voice of the Father and saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus in the form of a dove. The baptism of Jesus was a manifestation of God.

But, since, Jesus is sinless. Why did He want John the Baptist to baptize Him? There are at least four reasons. First, when Our Lord was baptized, it was the first public revelation of the Blessed Trinity. The event revealed that He is His Son of the Father and there is a third person, the Holy Spirit, who appeared in the form of a dove.

Another reason, Jesus was baptized, was to sanctify all water. The water poured on the head of Our Lord was made holy and therefore all water is made holy by His baptism.

The third reason why Jesus was baptized was to give approval of John’s baptism. Our Lord was baptized by John as an example for us, so that we too would choose to be baptized.

The fourth reason, Jesus allowed Himself to be baptized was out of humility, such that He allowed Himself to be numbered among sinners, though He was free from original sin and never committed any personal sin in His life.

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance and not a washing away of original sin. However, the Baptism which Jesus instituted, when He told His apostles, to “Go therefore make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”,--was different then John’s Baptism. The baptism Jesus instituted using those words, would have a tremendous impact for all of humanity. Those who were baptized were made disciple of Jesus and when we are baptized we too become a disciple of Jesus.

Historically in the Catholic Church children have always been baptized. When scripture states, “whole households” were baptized, it is understood that children were baptized too. The early saints talk about children receiving baptism.

Through baptism we receive godparents, who have the duty to pray for us, and helps us in our faith. Because an infant child doesn’t have faith, the parents of the child and the godparents faith stands in for the faith of the child. We want our children to be baptized because we want them to be follower of Jesus. We want God to come to dwell in their heart and give the child everything possible to help them to go to heaven. It is a traditional practice to baptize children 2 or 3 days after Baptism. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says baptism should not be delayed.

Holy water is placed at the entrance of the church has lots of symbolism to it. We make the sign of the Cross saying, invoking the Blessed Trinity, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Holy water reminds us of our own baptism, when we became a member of God’s family and when our sins were washed away and God came to dwell within us. Holy Water is a sacramental. When we bless our self with Holy Water, we can say, “By this Holy Water and by the precious blood of Jesus, may my sins be washed away, O Lord.” Holy water remits venial sin, but not mortal sin. We are required to confess all mortal sins, but venial sins are forgiven when we bless our self with Holy Water and also when we receive Holy Communion.

In the old testament, the blood of animals was sprinkled on the people to remit their sins. But today, the blood of Jesus actually washes the sins away either through baptism or Confession. When we make the sign of the Cross, it reminds us of the Cross, on which Jesus died and poured out His blood. We are washed in His blood when we bless our self with Holy Water. When we make the sign of the Cross, we first touch our forehead, as a reminder the Father is the head of the Trinity. We then touch our heart because Jesus is the heart of the Trinity. When we sign our self from shoulder to shoulder, we are reminded of the Holy Spirit is love between the Father and the Son.

Since Holy Water is blessed, we are protected from evil spirits. Holy Water is used to prepare us, who are sinners, to enter into God’s presence, who is the tabernacle, by having our venial sins washed away.

Yesterday, Pete, a friend of mine, told me his brother-in-law, Mark died in December. Pete had been praying the Rosary and also the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for his brother-in-law to become Catholic. Mark often said he wished to become Catholic, but he never did. In December Mark’s health deteriorated and he was admitted to St. Francis hospital in Wichita. When we was admitted, even though he was not baptized and not Catholic, he listed himself as Catholic.

Pete prayed prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for Mark and then not much after that, because he was listed as Catholic, a priest came to Mark’s room and baptized him. He died a few hours later. Even though he was unconscious, when he was baptized, all his sins and the punishment due to his sins were washed away. He went straight to heaven because he never sinned after his baptism and never regained consciousness. What a beautiful gift, to be able to go straight to heaven.

We have mentioned Holy Water, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as sacramentals. The blessing of homes is a sacramental. And when homes are blessed we sprinkle them with Holy Water.

Did you know, two days before the fire in Los Angeles, at Hollywood’s Golden Globe awards they purposefully mocked God. Not only taking His name in vain many times, but they made fun of God. And now Hollywood and Los Angeles is burning. Thousands of people are displaced, homes, businesses, and churches have been destroyed.

Jesse Romero, a famous Catholic conference speaker, recently told the story about how a Catholic family in Los Angeles did the Epiphany blessing of their home, on Jan 6th, and the day after they blessed their house, they had to flee. Several days later, when they returned to their home, every house surrounding their home was destroyed but their home, that was recently blessed with the Epiphany blessing was unscathed. The Epiphany blessing is a prayer asking for God’s divine protection on your home. And Holy Water is used to bless it.

We should have our home blessed once year. If you would like to have your home blessed, contact me we can set up a day and time.

With regard to fire protection and sacramentals, in May of 1957, a Carmelite priest in Germany published the story of how the Scapular saved a home from fire. An entire row of homes had caught fire in Westboden, Germany. A Catholic family of a 2-family home, seeing the fire, immediately fastened a Scapular to the main door of the house. Sparks flew over it and around it, but the house remained unharmed. Within 5 hours, 22 homes had been reduced to ashes. The one structure which stood undamaged amidst the destruction was that which had the Scapular attached to its door. The hundreds of people who came to see the place Our Lady had saved are eye-witnesses to the power of the Scapular and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

I encourage you to regularly wear the scapular. It is also great form of protection, most especially for our soul. Our Blessed Mother gave the Scapular promise in 1251 to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite friar, saying, “Whosoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” The scapular not only protects our soul from hell, but it can protect us physically.