In this pair of January Sunday Gospels on the Baptism of Jesus Event, two things that penetrate my thoughts and soul is that in our Baptism into Jesus Christ, we get access for approval by our Heavenly Father God over us. That kind of approval is huge.
The second thing that our Baptism into Jesus Life, or His into our souls, is that this gives us what is tabbed as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. That kind of anointing for new life and salvation is huge. Some just call it renewal or new life or the dynamic Catholic experience.
So we have two things to examine—in just a short 9 minutes.
Let’s talk of needing approval from our Heavenly Father. Jesus came to give that to us—something desperately needed to the fallen sinner. We can be plunged into that Love of God. (Baptism means plunged into.)
First, look at all the psychological, sociological, biological, spiritual and affective needs that human beings seek and want in getting earthly “approval” or “recognition.” I’ve met people who have gone through life seeking the approval of mom and dad or family for them, not feeling it’s been there, but they keep attempting to earn it or win it over. Others want approval from their peers, at almost any cost—needing the love and attention or identity. Some others need approval in their careers, again looking for respect or notice. When it doesn’t seem to come, it hurts them. Still others feel that their life is unvalued, for whatever outside messages enforce that notion.
So here comes Jesus to answer a very important need of humanity. The Baptism at the Jordan is his splash among us. He comes to join us and unite us to Himself, and to speak worth and value to us, and indicate the Father’s Love for you and me. When Jesus disciples John and Andrew (and perhaps Philip) got to a place of some understanding of their Master, they asked Him to teach them how to pray—like John the Baptist had once done for them. Jesus tells the apostles to pray this way: to address God as their Abba. It was startling, but He had His prayerful followers name God as Father for a reason. It is that Jesus had bridged the gulf of separation of sin and shame, from man to God and Heaven. Jesus brought us Divine Mercy and newfound access to a relationship with God—which is THE most needed relationship in life. He wanted us to plunge in—dive into this new identity as loved by God as Father.
Indeed, the psychological drive to find dad’s approval (or others’) is intentionally designed by God to point us to the more important and eternal need to have Divine approval. That is what our shame needs to receive, for a rehabilitation, or full renewal of life, The Catholic Life.
God addresses that desire outright in last Sunday’s and today’s feast and gospel. God could have chosen any way He wanted to reveal himself, but he specifically chose to show up as a Son who is approved (even as a human person life us) and Who does His Father’s will. Jesus says this is the blessed or contented life, and that even the kingdom of Heaven is ours if we live it.
God taps into our deep desire to make “dad” proud and says, “Yes! I want you to be my son, my daughter and I want to be proud of you!”
Or if you want to relate it to some other approval or identity for happiness, Jesus says that His life in yours begins the contented life.
“This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.” God’s voice literally booms from heaven to say, “That’s my boy!” Then He dedicates the rest of time to making that true for every single one of us. God wants to have us be His, as to come home to our true life and meaning.
From the time of Jesus’ baptism until the end of the universe, God’s goal is to make us his children and for us to make him proud. That morphs into something even deeper, but it starts with being his beloved children.
So why are you here at Mass? Because you – or at least most of you – were baptized. You are already God’s son or daughter. Whether you realize it or not, deep down, you have a desire, a need for your heavenly Father to pay attention to you. Like rebellious children, that often turns into getting any attention, even if it’s negative, but it’s there. All of us want to be happy and some part of you knows that God the Father’s attention to you is the key to a contentment or blessing in your life. And it is important to learn that God has loved us first, and done all the set up first for a loving relationship with Him, before we could even try to earn His love. Earning isn’t what faith is—rather, loving and trusting God and going forward into new life that He provides IS what satisfies the soul.
Our second area to talk about, when speaking of Baptism and New Life in Christ, is to be open to how Christ Jesus will “baptize us with the Holy Spirit.”
Using today’s Gospel line: How, then, do we seek to make the father “well pleased” with us as He is with Jesus? Well, start by actually naming that desire. Start by naming the even more basic desire. What do you want? To be happy! So why go to Mass, why pray, sacrifice, deny yourself, and do all the other Catholic stuff? It is hopefully because you are interested in the Holy Spirit conforming you to be like Jesus Christ. Jesus lives in you, but He needs to reign in your life—even before you live in Heaven under His reign. So He gives you the Holy Spirit for inspiration. You are called to a God-breathed life. One of the reasons in the early Church baptisms had it for dunking people under for a few seconds, and three times, was that reminder of how people can’t breathe water, but need air. But there is more than God’s provided physical air to breathe, there is holy breathing. When you pray and when you worship, then you are holy breathing. You are transcending life as not only an earth bound one, separated from God, but now living the heaven-bound one, getting fit for the Kingdom eternal as a child of God.
There’s a lot more to say of Baptism of The Holy Spirit, but we can just stop there at that basic understanding. I sing a song in prayer using a contemporary Christian song, and its words are: “Breathe on Me, breath of God, breathe on Me…I’m alive, come alive when You breathe on me.” And as God provides this breath or Baptism in the Holy Spirit, then you are being Christian. And the Spirit enables us to call God, Abba.
I leave you with two supportive Bible verses to celebrate that.
And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” from Galatians 4:6
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ from Romans 8:14-15
As we go forward as being Catholics and of this parish, this is our identity. It’s why really you come and worship, why you pray from your soul in your living, why you love and hope and believe, why you sacrificially give to this parish’s success to the Glory of Jesus work in it.
We live to all please the Father, as with the help of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, hoping as the Church to hear the Lord say on the final day: “Well done, my good and faithful servants—now I am well pleased to open eternity to you. That is from Matthew 25:21 from Jesus to His followers, just like He said earlier in Luke 12:32 Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.
Hallelujah.