We officially closed the Christmas season today with the feast of the Lord's Baptism. In this regard, we look back a little bit at how we, as a community of faith celebrated Christmas beginning with our Advent preparation. We have travailed together a path that deepened our faith in the Incarnation of the Son of God, a conviction that binds us together in the loving presence of the God who became one of us in everything except in sin.
Today, Jesus showed us once more the Father's boundless love by submitting His beloved son to John's baptism in the river Jordan.
In emphasis, we need to be baptized. It is the wiping away of our original sin, and - if we need it - our actual sins too. It restores us to our original innocence. But Christ is not in need of this. He is free from any form of sin - original and actual. He is fully at one with God. He surrendered himself in baptism not for himself - but for us. Not because he needs it, but because we need it. By submerging into the water of baptism, he submerged fully into our humanity.
Christ is baptized so that we may become one with him in our own baptism. Let us remind ourselves that of our baptismal promises to be in unison with God, fulfilling our mission as ambassadors of Christ
Today, Jesus showed us once more the Father's boundless love by submitting His beloved son to John's baptism in the river Jordan.
In emphasis, we need to be baptized. It is the wiping away of our original sin, and - if we need it - our actual sins too. It restores us to our original innocence. But Christ is not in need of this. He is free from any form of sin - original and actual. He is fully at one with God. He surrendered himself in baptism not for himself - but for us. Not because he needs it, but because we need it. By submerging into the water of baptism, he submerged fully into our humanity.
Christ is baptized so that we may become one with him in our own baptism. Let us remind ourselves that of our baptismal promises to be in unison with God, fulfilling our mission as ambassadors of Christ