Homily for January 13, 2013 - The Baptism of the Lord
We are Baptized as Priest, Prophet & King
Administering the Sacrament of Baptism is one of the most pleasurable assignments as a
Deacon. It is truly a joyous sacrament that brings the different generations together in prayer to
support the new Christians being baptized. It’s very wet too. I like it when everyone gets wet. At
STM we give the parents a little bottle of the Holy Water from the font in order to bless
themselves in their homes.
Baptism is the first sacrament of the Church and is one of the sacraments of initiation along with
Confirmation and First Communion, which guide us through life, as children of God.
We have heard God’s call in the first reading from Isaiah:
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
Did you hear the call?
In the second reading we hear Paul’s encouragement to Titus
The grace of God has appeared, saving all
and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires
and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age,
as we await the blessed hope.
In our Gospel we heard Luke’s version of Our Lord’s Baptism which is clearly different from
Mathew and Mark’s versions. I think we can gain insight from this difference.
Our Gospel tells us that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus after the baptism and while He
was praying. Let’s dwell on these words because it is too easy to look at Baptism as a one shot
service that ends with a big party. Instead it is a lifelong covenant with our Creator to live our
lives in His will and pleasure.
Jesus was in prayer, which is the best example for us, to call on God’s grace to give us wisdom
and strength to do what He wants us to do in this life. God is always ready to act in our lives
along with us.
He wants us to willingly turn to Him for the grace that was planted deep within us at Baptism. I
believe that His grace call us back to Him when we have drifted away. I have seen many
examples of this at this parish; people coming home to the faith of their youth.
“Great things happen, when God mixes with man.”
In our Baptism we are anointed PRIEST, PROPHET AND KING.
The prayer of anointing goes like this:
God the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ has freed you from sin, given you a new birth by water
and the Holy Spirit, and welcomed you into His holy people.
He now anoints you with the chrism of salvation.
As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, and King,
So may you live always as a member of His body.
By Baptism the person shares in the priesthood of Christ.
What this means in a practical way is that as lay women and men our responsibility is to give
witness to our faith in the way we live our lives everyday and everywhere. We are called to care
for others and be a mediator between God and man.
We share in Jesus’ prophetic ministry by living as witnesses to the Gospel. Prophesy is
speaking for God and about God in our world.
As a people who share in the kingly mission of Jesus we are first and foremost people of hope.
We have been promised eternal life as our inheritance, and so we need not fear death. We are
members of God’s family which has benefits as well as responsibilities.
It all requires action from us and the grace of God to see it through, from start to finish. It
requires prayer to receive the wisdom to understand who we are and our mission in God’s
kingdom.
Deacon Tony