Baptism of the Lord 2015
Fr. Robert VerEecke, S.J.
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of Us All
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that were true! Just One Lord, Just One Faith,
Just One Father of us all. Just one way of symbolizing and celebrating
belonging to God and to one another through Baptism.
If all the world were to believe in One God and Father of us all, perhaps
there would be no cries of blasphemy and terrorist killings in the name of
God. If all the world shared belief in One faith that united each human being
as brothers as sisters, perhaps there would be no one-upmanship, My God,
My Faith is better than yours. If all were united as one in a common belief
in a God of Love, Compassion, who shows no partiality but loves each and
every one in the same way, could you imagine that?
There is a great irony in our world today that we can be connected to people
across the world in a blink of an eye or a tweet of a twitter and at the same
time feel so dis-connected because of difference in belief and the
justification for violence that is given in the name of God. Pope Francis in
his commentary on the terrorist acts in Paris "exhorts all to oppose with
every means the spread of hatred and every form of violence, physical and
moral, that destroys human life, violates the dignity of the person, radically
undermines the fundamental good of peaceful coexistence among persons
and peoples, notwithstanding differences of nationality, religion and
culture." But it is certainly not just another isolated act of terror that
heightens the divide between people who believe and act in a way that most
of the world believes has no moral justification. The divisions between
people of different beliefs, cultures and classes, 1st world, 2nd world, 3rd
world, seem only to increase with each passing day.
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of us All.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that were true for all! Sadly, it isn’t. Even for
Christians who read the same scriptures, suspicion of the other and being
partial to “our way” of believing and living faith dominates our way of
looking at the world. How did Jesus, I wonder, look at the world?
Perhaps this feast of the Baptism gives us some clues. We know that the
Baptism by John in the Jordan was a “watershed” experience for Jesus. All
of the Gospels recount this immersion into the water/womb of the Jordan.
Jesus is not just going through some ritual cleansing. From all that we can
glean from the accounts, something happens to Jesus. He emerges from the
water ‘reborn’, confirmed in his identity and mission. He hears the voice of
the Father and feels the Spirit of God upon him. It is as if in the water he
“absorbs” all that he is, all that he is called to be. (This image of birth may
be especially helpful for Mark’s gospel, which has no infancy narrative, no
story of the birth of Jesus. In Mark, the physical birth of Jesus does not seem
to capture his imagination the way this “spiritual” birth does.)
In that Baptismal moment, did Jesus envision the world as God’s work and
God’s world? Did he understand that every bit of creation, every man,
woman and child was a son or daughter of God? Did the experience of
knowing that he was “beloved”, open him to the truth that all—without
exception—belong to God, are beloved by God, are destined for God?
I think it’s fair to say that Jesus envisions the world through the eyes of a
beloved son whose only desire was to do the will of his heavenly Father.
From that moment on, everything is about God’s project, God’s kingdom.
And all are welcome.
Today is the final day of the Christmas season. For the past few weeks we
have had the privilege of standing with Mary and Joseph at the manger,
standing with the shepherds in the fields and hearing the voices of Angels,
journeying with the Magi, standing on the banks of the Jordan as his soon to
be called disciples. We have been witnesses to the birth and the baptism of
Jesus. We have been invited into a contemplation of the awesome and
incomprehensible mystery that God is in our world, flesh and blood,
“pitching his tent” with us. In Jesus, God takes time, takes shape, takes space
in the world. God is with us.
If we believe in One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of
Us All, even if we live in a world where there is so little “oneness”, so little
unity, are we not called to live the vision of Jesus and work for a kingdom
where all God’s children are united in him? Can we envision with Jesus a
world where God’s desires for human kind are reflected in the way we live
as brothers and sisters united in peace and committed to the common good?