Sunday, January 13, 2019

WWJD? Baptism opens our ears, eyes and mouths

Today we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. This is a beautiful culmination of the Christmas season during which we have been praying about the incarnation of God becoming human in the birth of the baby Jesus for the purpose of our salvation.

As I read Luke’s gospel (Luke 3:15-16, 21-22) I am overwhelmed by the deep faith of the people who followed John to the river to be baptized. I am moved by their quiet hope and curiosity: The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ.

John clarifies his role and assures the people that Christ is coming by telling them:

"I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

But rather than arriving in a blaze of glory, the 30-year-old Jesus quietly gets in line with the others and gracefully asks John to baptize him. From the beginning of his public ministry Jesus provides a template of how we should live with humility. I wonder how I might have reacted when as Jesus was praying after being baptized by John, I see the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and hear the voice from heaven proclaiming: "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

It is very important to me that my daughters and Lily were baptized (still waiting on Josephine and Paloma, but I pray that it is soon), and I always take the renewal of my baptismal promises seriously. Baptism reveals the equality and dignity of every human being, leads us to imitate Christ’s example and makes us disciples to the world. Baptism requires us to reject sin and evaluate our values, decisions and lifestyles. Baptism “initiates” us into a life with Christ and opens our eyes to see the blessings and graces that God bestows upon us.

As I write this, I am thinking of the familiar images of the trio of monkeys sitting in a row with one covering his ears, one his eyes, and the last his mouth. The saying that accompanies the image is “Hear No Evil, See No Evil, and Speak No Evil.” Baptism opens our ears, eyes and mouths to Christ and allows us to “Hear the Truth, See the Truth, and Speak the Truth.” This is the legacy I hope to pass to my descendants through baptism.

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"I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.

I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor:
the first — by deed, the second — by word, the third — by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy.

Many souls ... are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul.

If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy".