With the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we formally close the Christmas season. The baby Jesus is now a grown up man! Ready to start his public ministry. Ready to begin his long awaited journey to Jerusalem, where he will manifest and reveal why he came in the first place. The Child-King, who was visited last Sunday by the Magi in the Feast of the Epiphany, is ready to embrace the cross, his salvific throne as King. This is the very reason why the Father is “pleased with him” using the words in the Gospel today.
The baptism of the Lord in the Jordan River was also the beginning of his active public ministry. After baptism, we saw him boldly preaching the Good News, curing the sick, etc. This is also what is expected of us of our baptism. Our baptism carries a huge responsibility of leading a life according to our Christian commitment. The rich and many symbols of the sacrament of baptism starting from the asking of the priest of the name of the child which signifies that the person to be baptized is no longer anonymous, he/she cannot live in darkness anymore without a clear identity, but is now a child of God. Another powerful symbol in the baptismal rite is the signing of the cross in which the priest says these words “(name), the Christian community welcomes you with great joy. In its name I claim you for Christ our Savior by the sign of his cross”, which powerfully communicates that we are now of God because that sign is an indelible mark of our incorporation to Jesus, and to act otherwise, is then to deny our new identity. As baptized, we walk in this world with that invisible sign of the cross on our forehead, and that
invisible sign is made visible by the way we lead our own lives. How are we living up to our baptismal commitment? – Fr. Cary