“You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”

On this Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord, which formally marks the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of the Ordinary Time of the Church Liturgical Year. The baptism of Jesus signaled the beginning of His three-year public ministry. In today’s gospel (Luke 3.15-16, 21-22), we witness John the Baptist performing the baptism of repentance – an outward sign of one’s readiness to turn away from sin and turn towards God. There, in the midst of sinners, stood Jesus, who knew no sin and therefore had no need of repentance. By humbling himself to be baptized by John, Jesus shows his solidarity with sinful humanity and manifested his mission to lead us out of the bondage of sin into the new life of forgiveness and salvation. Through his eventual sacrifice on the cross, Jesus conquered sin and death and poured forth from His wounded side the waters of rebirth into eternal life. In the waters of baptism, Jesus comes to meet us and to raise us up with into the new life of God’s glory.

The baptism of the Lord is also another profound moment of Epiphany. After Jesus had been baptized, the heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit descended, and the Fathers voice declared: “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” This divine manifestation affirms Jesus’ unity and equality with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

As we celebrate this feast, let us remember and reflect on our own baptism, through which we have been saved from slavery to sin, and have become adopted children of God. May we acknowledge that Jesus our brother, is both human and divine. It is through the grace of this most wonderful union that we can always repent of our sins and hold firm to the hope of eternal salvation in the heavenly glory with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Fr. Martin