January 11-12, 2025
Dear parishioners,
As we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord this weekend, we come the end of the Christmas season. This feast actually takes the place of what would be the 1st Sunday in Ordinary Time, as next Sunday is marked as the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time. Liturgically, this denotes a transition from Jesus’ hidden years at Nazareth into his public ministry. Jesus’ manifestation at the Jordan River, and his reception of John’s baptism, inaugurates the mission that he came to accomplish- the work of our salvation.
Of course, Jesus had no direct need to receive John’s baptism, since Jesus personally had no need to repent of anything. John’s baptism was unlike any of the other Jewish rituals of washing at that time, and yet, it was still only a preparation for the baptism that Jesus would bring about in the sacrament of Baptism, the power of which comes to us from Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. We can see, then, that the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry is already pointing to the culmination of his mission, which is his suffering on the Cross for our salvation from sin and death. Preaching on Jesus’ baptism, St. John Chrysostom (A.D. 347 – 407) speaks of this very same reality:
On this very account the Jewish baptism ceases, and ours takes its beginning. And what was done with regard to the Passover, the same ensues in the baptism also. For as in that case too, He acting with a view to both, brought the one to an end, but to the other He gave a beginning: so here, having fulfilled the Jewish baptism, He at the same time opens also the doors of that of the Church; as on one table then, so in one river now, He had both sketched out the shadow, and now adds the truth. For this baptism alone hath the grace of the Spirit, but that of John was destitute of this gift. For this very cause in the case of the others that were baptized, no such thing came to pass, but only in the instance of Him who was to hand on this; in order that, besides what we have said, thou might learn this also, that not the purity of the baptizer, but the power of the baptized, had this effect. Not until then, assuredly, were either the heavens opened, nor did the Spirit make His approach. Because henceforth He leads us away from the old to the new city, both opening to us the gates on high, and sending down His Spirit from thence to call us to our country there; and not merely to call us, but also with the greatest mark of dignity. For He hath not made us angels and archangels, but He hath caused us to become “sons of God,” and “beloved,” and so He draws us on towards that portion of ours.
As Chrysostom mentions above, the beginning of Jesus public ministry already points to its culmination on the Cross. Bearing this reality in mind, it will help us to liturgically transition to Lent in the near future.
In thanksgiving for our own baptisms, we call to mind the tremendous grace that was poured out into us by the power of the Holy Spirit when we were washed free of original sin. Likewise, Jesus’ (and John’s) call for us to continually repent of our sins still rings true as we make our way through our pilgrimage on earth. May we seek to respond faithfully to Jesus in all that he asks us to do!
Blessings,
Fr. Ammanniti
