The Baptism of the Lord
January 10, 2016
4PM, 12 Noon, & 5:30 PM Liturgies
J.A. Loftus, S.J.
Today the liturgical season of Christmas officially ends. This
is the celebration of the third of the great epiphanies, or
manifestations, of the Lord. The first was a manifestation to the
shepherds by singing angels; the second was the manifestation to
the Magi; the third is the baptism itself when the heavens are
opened and God confirms Jesus’ identity as God’s beloved servant
or son.
So the Christmas season is over officially. For some, I’m sure
it was over immediately after the presents were scattered. For
others, at least twelve days of Christmas were celebrated and that
all ended last week.
But I was reminded of a prayer I had heard years ago and had
forgotten. The reminder came from Jocelyn Sideco’s “Young
Voices” column in the NCR this week. The prayer she quotes was
originally written by the civil rights leader and Baptist minister,
Howard Thurman. It’s called: “Now the Work of Christmas
Begins.”
Now the work of Christmas begins
When the song of the angels is stilled.
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among the people.
To make music in the heart.
Just watching and listening to the two main characters in the
play today, John and Jesus, can sum up the real significance of
today’s story. And another preaching friend of mine, whom I have
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often used in my own homilies, is a Presbyterian minister,
Frederick Buechner. He has an uncanny and delightful way with
short words. I will quote him liberally here as he describes some
differences between John and Jesus. (Beyond Words, 2004)
“Where John preached grim justice and pictured God as a
steely-eyed thresher of grain, Jesus preached forgiving love and
pictured God as the host at a marvelous party, or a father who can’t
bring himself to throw his children out even when they spit in his
eye. Where John said people had better save their own skins
before it was too late, Jesus said it was God who saved their skins,
and even if you blew your whole bankroll on liquor and sex like the
Prodigal Son, it still wasn’t too late. Where John baptized, Jesus
healed.”
A little later in Luke’s gospel (Luke 7:20ff), John decides to
settle his questions about who Jesus really is by sending two of his
disciples to Jesus to say, “John wants to know if you’re the One
we’ve been waiting for or whether we should cool our heels a while
longer.”
What does Jesus say? “You go tell John what you’ve seen
around here. Tell him there are people who have sold their seeing3
eye dogs and taken up bird watching. Tell him there are people
who’ve traded in their aluminum walkers for hiking boots. Tell
him the down-and-out have turned into the up-and-coming and a
lot of deadbeats are living it up for the first time in their lives. And
three cheers for the one who can swallow all this without gagging.”
Brothers and sisters, that is the Jesus who today hears his
beloved God say to him, “It is you in whom my heart delights.” The
“message” of the Baptism? “Now the work of Christmas begins: To
find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the
prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.”
Hear him speak directly to us today: Go and do likewise!
Peace!
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