Monday, January 10, 2011

Baptism of the Lord, Cycle A

MATTHEW 3:13-17
WE CATHOLICS MAKE A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE BAPTISM THAT JOHN WAS GIVING AND THE BAPTISM THAT JESUS SPOKE ABOUT WHEN HE TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO GO AND BAPTIZE ALL NATIONS. JOHN'S BAPTISM WAS IN A SENSE A CALL TO THE PEOPLE TO RETURN TO THEIR ROOTS; THAT'S WHY HE DID IT AT THAT SPOT ON THE JORDAN RIVER – THE PLACE WHERE GOD HAD PARTED THE WATERS AND ALLOWED THE ISRAELITES LED BY JOSHUA TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND. YES, THEY LEFT EGYPT THROUGH THE PARTING OF THE RED SEA, BUT THEY ENTERED ISRAEL THROUGH THE PARTING OF THE JORDAN. OUR BAPTISM IS A SACRAMENT. IT IS NOT MERELY A SYMBOL, IT IMPARTS GRACE. GRACE WHICH IS STILL WORKING IN YOU AND I.
SAINT THERESA OF AVILA, THE GREAT DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH WHO REFORMED THE CARMELITE ORDER, WROTE THE “INTERIOR CASTLE” WHICH IS A MASTERPIECE OF MYSTICAL THEOLOGY. THE MAIN POINT IS THAT AT BAPTISM THE TRINITY DWELLS IN OUR VERY CENTER, IN THE CENTER OF OUR SOUL. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR US TO UNITE WITH THE TRINITY TO A CERTAIN EXTENT WHILE WE ARE STILL HERE ON EARTH. WE START OUT FAR FROM THE CENTER, AND AS WE BEGIN TO PRAY, AND TURN OUR BACKS ON WHATEVER KEEPS US FROM GOD, WE HAVE DIFFICULTY – SHE COMPARES IT TO WATERING A GARDEN BY LOWERING A BUCKET INTO A WELL AND CARRYING IT BACK AND FORTH. LATER, IT BECOMES EASIER; IT IS AS THOUGH NOW WE HAVE A WINCH TO HELP US GET THE BUCKET UP. THEN IT'S AS THOUGH THERE IS A STREAM WHICH WE CAN DIVERT TO OUR GARDEN; AND FINALLY THE RAIN COMES AND WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING. ALL THE WHILE WE STRUGGLE TO REACH THE TRINITY DWELLING IN OUR HEARTS, THE WATERS OF BAPTISM ARE THERE FOR US TO USE – THE GRACES THAT COME, FIRST WITH EFFORT, THEN LATER WITH HARDLY ANY AT ALL, ALL LEADING TO THIS GREAT AND WONDERFUL UNION. THERESA SAYS THAT IT IS ALL THERE FOR THE TAKING, AND AS SOON AS WE BEGIN TO MAKE THE EFFORT, GOD HELPS US. THERESA, BY THE WAY, DIDN'T EVEN GET STARTED UNTIL SHE WAS 39, AND HAD HAD A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE. HOW MANY OF US HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED ON THIS JOURNEY TO THE TRINITY, NOT IN SOME DISTANT HEAVEN, BUT IN OUR VERY HEARTS, A JOURNEY MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR BAPTISM?
SAINT TERESE OF LISEAUX, ALSO A GREAT DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, KNEW FROM THE TIME SHE WAS SMALL THAT SHE WANTED TO GIVE HERSELF TO GOD. SHE TOOK STOCK OF HERSELF, AND COULDN'T SEE MUCH THAT SHE THOUGHT GOD WANTED. SHE DIDN'T HAVE THE HEALTH AND STAMINA TO BE A MISSIONARY; SHE WASN'T VERY EDUCATED AND COULDN'T BE A GREAT THEOLOGIAN; SHE WASN'T MUSICAL AND COULDN'T WRITE GLORIOUS HYMNS; BUT THEN SHE LOOKED INTO HER HEART AND SAW THAT GOD HAD INDEED GIVEN HER A GIFT – SHE NOTICED THE DROPS OF BLOOD RUNNING FROM THE FACE OF JESUS CRUCIFIED IN A PICTURE SHE WAS CONTEMPLATING, AND HOW NO ONE WAS PAYING ATTENTION TO THEM AS THEY FELL ON THE GROUND. SHE FELT THAT HER CALL, HER GIFT, WAS TO TEND TO THE DROPS OF BLOOD, TO WIPE THEM UP, TO COLLECT THEM, TO DRY THE FACE OF JESUS. OF COURSE THAT SOUNDS VERY SENTIMENTAL, BUT TERESE WENT ON TO ELABORATE ON HOW SHE WAS GIVEN THE GIFT OF SENSITIVITY SO THAT SHE COULD FEEL THE PAIN AND HEARTACHE AND TURMOIL THAT WENT ON IN THOSE AROUND HER, AND SOMETIMES IN THOSE FOR WHOM SHE PRAYED. IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY, SHE GIVES MANY EXAMPLES OF THIS. IN BAPTISM WE ARE ALL GIVEN GIFTS, VERY SPECIAL GIFTS, GIFTS IN SOME CASES THAT HARDLY ANYONE ELSE HAS. SAINT PAUL TELLS US THAT. AND HE ALSO TELLS US THAT THESE GIFTS ARE NOT FOR US, THEY ARE FOR THE CHURCH. IN PAUL'S TIME IT WAS VERY MATTER OF FACT; THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO COULD HEAL; OTHERS WHO COULD READ HEARTS; STILL OTHERS WHO HAD GOD=GIVEN WISDOM, OR GOD-GIVEN KNOWLEDGE, OR THE ABILITY TO TEACH. SOME GIFTS WERE GREAT AND OTHERS SMALL, BUT ALL WERE NECESSARY. SAINT TERESE’S GIFT WAS SMALL; BUT IT MADE HER A GREAT SAINT. HAVE YOU AND I LOOKED FOR OUR SPECIAL GIFTS, THE GIFT THAT WAS GIVEN TO US AT BAPTISM, THE GIFT WE WERE MEANT TO SHARE WITH THE CHURCH, THE GIFT THAT WE MAY BE HIDING UNDER A BUSHEL? GOD HELP US IF WE DON'T USE OUR GIFT AS HE INTENDS!
MOTHER THERESA OF CALCUTTA, WHO WILL SOMEDAY BE A SAINT, I'M SURE, AND MAYBE EVEN A DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, BEGAN HER SPIRITUAL LIFE AS A MEMBER OF A TEACHING ORDER. IN THOSE DAYS SHE COULD ALMOST HEAR GOD SPEAKING TO HER, AS HE LED HER FROM ONE THING TO ANOTHER, UNTIL SHE FOUNDED HER OWN ORDER AND BEGAN TO SERVE THE POOREST OF THE POOR. AND THEN, AS WE LEARNED FROM LETTERS OF HERS THAT HAD BEEN PUBLISHED POSTHUMOUSLY, THOSE INSPIRATIONS, THOSE MOMENTS OF TENDERNESS, THOSE URGINGS AND MOTIONS OF THE HEART WHICH LED HER TO DO THESE THINGS – THEY ALL DRIED UP, AND SHE SPEND MOST OF HER LIFE AFTERWARD WITH A CONSTANT FEELING OF EMPTINESS, OF BEING ABANDONED, OF HAVING NONE OF WHAT LED HER TO THAT POINT. I TOOK CARE OF AN ELDERLY SISTER ONE TIME, WHO TOLD ME THAT SHE HAD HAD A PROFOUND MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE AS A YOUNG WOMAN, AND THAT LED HER TO ENTER THE CONVENT. AND SHE SAID, WITH WISTFULNESS, THAT SHE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR AN EXPERIENCE LIKE THAT FOR ALL HER LIFE. I THINK THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED WITH MOTHER THERESA. BUT GOD WAS OBVIOUSLY WORKING IN HER AND THROUGH HER – ANYONE WHO LOOKS AT HER LIFE, HER DEVOTION, HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS, CAN'T DENY THAT. BUT TO HER IT WAS AS THOUGH SHE WAS ABANDONED. BAPTISM IS THE UNSHAKABLE PROMISE THAT NO MATTER HOW YOU AND I MAY FEEL AT ANY GIVEN TIME, GOD IS BUSILY WORKING IN US, CHANGING US, MOLDING US INTO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON. IF WE COULD SEE WHAT HE WAS DOING, WE WOULD PROBABLY EITHER TELL HIM WE'D RATHER HE DID SOMETHING ELSE, OR VOLUNTEER TO GIVE HIM OUR ADVICE. THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE SLOG TO CHURCH WITHOUT MUCH ENTHUSIASM, WHEN IT IS ALL WE CAN DO TO SAY OUR PRAYERS; WHEN OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE TASTES AS DRY AS CARDBOARD, THOSE ARE THE MOMENTS WHEN GOD IS CHANGING US MOST PROFOUNDLY. HE STARTS BY GIVING US TASTES OF HIMSELF, AND ENDS BY HIDING FROM US; AND SOMETIMES IT'S PAINFUL, AND SOMETIMES IT'S WONDERFUL, BUT IF WE PERSEVERE, IF WE CLING TO THE GRACE OF OUR BAPTISM, HE WILL USE US FOR HIS WORK – WHICH IS ALL THAT MATTERS.
SO ON THIS DAY WHEN WE REMEMBER JESUS' BAPTISM, AND OUR OWN, LET US ALSO REMEMBER THE THREE THERESAS, AND HOW THEY EACH RESPONDED TO THEIR BAPTISMAL GRACE; AND LET US REMEMBER THAT GOD WILL MAKE US SAINTS AS WELL, IF WE LET HIM. WHEN YOU LEAVE MASS TODAY, TOUCH YOUR HAND TO THE HOLY WATER AND SIGN YOURSELF WITH CHRIST'S CROSS, AND REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE TRINITY; YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A GIFT FOR THE CHURCH, A GIFT ONLY YOU HAVE; AND THAT YOU ARE BEING WORKED ON, SHAPED INTO JESUS, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, WHETHER YOU FEEL IT OR NOT.