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As we come to an end in our church’s Christmas celebration, let’s all take a moment to reflect on the greatness of all that has just occurred.  Before Jesus’ birth, angels descended upon Mary and Joseph and told them who their son would be.  At his birth, the shepherds and the Magi recognized and accepted Jesus as the Messiah.  And here we are at his baptism, where Jesus fully accepts that he is God’s son, this being a pivotal moment in his acceptance of the mission put forth before him by God.  Our Lord’s baptism isn’t only about Jesus’ baptism, but is a reflection of ours as well.

Take a look at today’s first reading from Isaiah.  We are told of a great saviour.  One that will faithfully bring forth justice.  A saviour that will not back down when confronted with difficulties.  A saviour that stops at nothing to fulfill his mission.  And by doing so reminds us that this saviour will be a light to the nations, will open the eyes of the blind, bring out the prisoners from the dungeons and from the prisons, bring forth those who sit in darkness.  What an awesome feeling to have such a saviour that leaves us our human freedoms, does not condemn us and even when we reject him, he constantly seeks us.  No greater love than that. The second reading and the Gospel speaks of Jesus baptism and it’s made clear that this was a major event in his life.  In accepting this baptism, Jesus unites himself with all sinners even though he is sinless.  Think about it, Jesus is truly human while he is truly God.  He who is innocent and without sin, undergoes baptism to bring about our salvation.   Jesus does not need to repent nor to be baptized, but chooses baptism in order to draw us to salvation.  For many of us, our baptism is simply something that occurred when we were a baby and for the most part, we do not feel the power and the enormity of this event in our life.  Well, today we celebrate the baptism of our Lord and let’s celebrate ours as well.  Let’s commit to understand our own baptism and commit to learning more about our faith.  But more importantly, let’s commit ourselves to living out the divine life that was given to us in our baptism.  Let’s give glory to God and rejoice in His presence within us.

Katy Mahoney