MATTHEW 3:13-17
MY MOTHER AND HER NINE
SIBLINGS HAVE ALL PASSED ON TO THEIR FINAL REWARD. IT'S BEEN A WHILE
AND I FIND THAT MY MEMORY OF HOW ANY OF THEM LOOKED IS FADING AS
WELL. ONCE IN A WHILE I DIG OUT AN OLD PHOTOGRAPH TO REMIND ME. IF
YOU LOOKED AT A PICTURE OF ALL TEN OF THEM, YOU WOULD PROBABLY NOTICE
THAT FOUR OF THEM BEAR A RESEMBLANCE TO EACH OTHER, WHILE THE OTHER
SIX LOOK LIKE EACH OTHER AS WELL. IF YOU HAD A PICTURE OF THEIR
PARENTS IT WOULD BE CLEAR THAT SOME INHERITED THEIR LOOKS FROM THEIR
MOTHER'S SIDE AND THE OTHERS, FROM THEIR FATHER'S SIDE.
I DON'T LOOK MUCH LIKE MY
FATHER DID; I GET MY LOOKS FROM MY MOTHER'S SIDE. BUT I SEE A STRONG
RESEMBLANCE TO MY FATHER IN ONE OF MY NEPHEWS.
FAMILY RESEMBLANCE ISN'T
JUST ABOUT LOOKS. SOMETIMES IT'S IN MANNERISMS. I HAVE A NEPHEW WHO
NOT ONLY LOOKS LIKE HIS FATHER, BUT TALKS LIKE HIM, GESTURES, LIKE
HIM, WALKS LIKE HIM. HE COULD BE A CLONE.
ON THE OTHER HAND, I HAVE
A GRANDCHILD THAT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE HIS FATHER, BUT HAS SOME TRAITS
THAT REMIND ME OF MY SON-IN-LAW. HE HAS A CERTAIN WAY OF INTERACTING
WITH PEOPLE THAT NONE OF HIS SIBLINGS SHARE, BUT IN THAT HE IS VERY
MUCH LIKE HIS DAD.
THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT
GOD MADE MAN IN HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS. PEOPLE HAVE PUZZLED OVER
THIS STATEMENT FOR A LONG TIME. WHAT DOES IT MEAN, AND WHY DID THE
INSPIRED AUTHOR USE TWO DIFFERENT HEBREW WORDS. FOR US, IMAGE AND
LIKENESS MEAN THE SAME THING. BUT AS YOU GO THROUGH THE OLD
TESTAMENT YOU FIND THAT THE TWO WORDS ARE NEVER USED TOGETHER AFTER
THE STORY OF THE CREATION OF MAN. THERE ARE MANY REFERENCES TO MAN
BEING MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE, BUT THE WORD “LIKENESS” ISN'T USED.
SOME OF THE CHURCH FATHERS DECIDED THAT AFTER ADAM AND EVE SINNED,
THEY LOST THE “LIKENESS” OF GOD, BUT RETAINED THE IMAGE. AND
THEIR CHILDREN, AND THEIR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN, DOWN TO THE PRESENT,
RETAINED THE IMAGE, BUT NO LONGER HAD THE LIKENESS. WHAT DOES IT
MEAN TO BE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD? IT HAS TO DO WITH OUR ABILITY TO
REASON, TO REMEMBER, AND TO ACT INDEPENDENT OF EXTERNAL INFLUENCES.
GRANTED, THESE QUALITIES EXIST IN US IN A VERY IMPERFECT WAY; WE KNOW
OUR LOGIC SOMETIMES LEADS US DOWN THE WRONG PATH; WE KNOW OUR
MEMORIES ARE FLAWED; AND WE KNOW THAT MUCH OF WHAT WE CHOOSE TO DO IS
IN RESPONSE TO SOME EXTERNAL PRESSURE. BUT WE SHARE THESE TRAITS
WITH GOD. BUT SOMETHING ABOUT OUR VERY BODIES RESEMBLES GOD AS WELL;
JESUS SAID, “IF YOU HAVE SEEN ME, YOU HAVE SEEN THE FATHER”. ALL
HUMAN BEINGS POSSESS THE IMAGE OF GOD. IF WE LOOK AT EACH OTHER, WE
CAN CATCH GLIMPSES OF GOD. WHETHER YOU ARE ADOLPH HITLER OR POPE
FRANCIS, THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT YOU THAT RECALLS OUR FATHER; WE
BEAR A FAMILY RESEMBLANCE.
TODAY WE HEAR ABOUT THE
BAPTISM OF JESUS. JOHN HAD BEEN BAPTIZING PEOPLE AS A SIGN THAT THEY
WERE COMMITTED TO REPENTANCE, TO TRYING TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES, TO
RENEW THEIR EFFORTS TO FOLLOW GOD'S LAW. THE BAPTISM WAS SEEN AS A
SIGN OF COMMITMENT; TO ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE PLUNGED UNDER THE WATER
AND COME UP AGAIN SIGNALED A NEW BIRTH. BUT JOHN'S BAPTISM WAS
MERELY A SYMBOL.
WHEN JESUS WAS BAPTIZED,
HOWEVER, SOMETHING NEW HAPPENED. GOD'S SPIRIT DESCENDED UPON HIM IN
THE FORM OF A DOVE, IT SAYS; AND A VOICE FROM THE HEAVENS CRIED OUT
“THIS IS MY BELOVED, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED!” THOSE CHURCH
FATHERS WHO THOUGHT ABOUT THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD IN HUMAN
BEINGS THOUGHT THAT AT THIS MOMENT JESUS INITIATED THE SACRAMENT OF
BAPTISM, AND IN BAPTISM, THE LIKENESS TO GOD WAS RESTORED.
SACRAMENTAL BAPTISM,
ACCORDING TO SOME OF THOSE CHURCH FATHERS, RESTORES OUR LIKENESS TO
GOD. AND WHAT IS THIS LIKENESS? IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE
SPIRIT OF GOD DESCENDING ON US. WHEN THAT HAPPENS, WE BEGIN TO SHARE
GOD'S LIFE. WE BEGIN TO HAVE SUPERNATURAL QUALITIES – FAITH –
THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD WANTS FOR US; HOPE – THE ABILITY
TO LOOK FORWARD TO A DESTINY THAT WE COULDN'T OTHERWISE EVEN THINK
ABOUT; AND LOVE – GOD'S KIND OF LOVE, THE ABILITY TO LOVE IN THE
WAY GOD LOVES. WE BECOME CAPABLE OF SELF-GIVING LOVE, LOVE WHICH
EMPTIES US OUT SO THAT GOD CAN FILL US UP.
WHEN WE LOOK AROUND AT
OUR FELLOW CHRISTIANS, THE LIKENESS OF GOD SOMETIMES SHINES FORTH
BRILLIANTLY AND OTHER TIMES, ONLY DIMLY. BUT ONE OF THE MARVELOUS
THINGS ABOUT HAVING GOD'S LIKENESS IS THAT WHEN WE GET TOGETHER WITH
EACH OTHER TO STUDY OUR FAITH, TO DO WORKS OF CHARITY, OR TO DO
ANYTHING ELSE IN CHRIST'S NAME, EVEN SOCIAL EVENTS, THERE IS A
MULTIPLIER EFFECT. EVERYONE'S LIKENESS SHINES FORTH, AND CHRIST
BECOMES PRESENT. JESUS HIMSELF SAID THIS: “WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE
GATHERED TOGETHER IN MY NAME, THERE I AM”.
SO BAPTISM IS A WONDERFUL
THING. IT GIVES US A SUPERNATURAL DIMENSION; IT MAKES IT POSSIBLE
FOR US TO RECLAIM THE WAY WE WERE CREATED TO BE – LIKE ADAM AND EVE
BEFORE THE FALL, BUT EVEN MORE, BECAUSE WE SHARE THE BAPTISM OF
JESUS IT GIVES US A GODLY DIMENSION. ST. JOHN SAYS: “ DEAR
FRIENDS, NOW WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD, AND WHAT WE WILL BE HAS NOT YET
BEEN MADE KNOWN. BUT WE KNOW THAT WHEN CHRIST APPEARS, WE SHALL BE
LIKE HIM, FOR WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS.” WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM.
ISN'T THAT A WONDERFUL
PROMISE? WE BELIEVE JESUS IS GOD AND MAN. EVERY TIME WE PUT A DROP
OF WATER IN THE WINE THAT WILL BE CHANGED INTO THE BLOOD OF JESUS AT
MASS, WE SAY THESE WORDS, “BY THE MYSTERY OF THIS WATER AND WINE,
MAY WE COME TO SHARE IN THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST, WHO HUMBLED HIMSELF
TO SHARE IN OUR HUMANITY.”
THAT'S THE AMAZING THING
– THAT THROUGH BAPTISM WE BEGIN THE PATH TO BECOME LIKE JESUS, TO
BECOME “DIVINIZED”. AND WE CAN HARDLY BELIEVE THIS.
BUT IT'S TRUE. AND
BAPTISM OPENS THESE DOORS TO US. AND FOR EACH OF US WHO HAVE BEEN
BAPTIZED, THOSE WORDS RING IN OUR EARS; “YOU ARE MY BELOVED, IN
WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.” BECAUSE, THE FATHER TELLS US, YOU LOOK
LIKE ME, AND YOU ACT LIKE ME, AND YOU SHARE MY VERY SPIRIT, YOU BEAR
MY IMAGE AND LIKENESS – THAT'S WHY YOU ARE MY BELOVED. AND IN OUR
LIVES AS CHRISTIANS, AS WE RESPOND TO THE SPIRIT WHO LIVES IN US,
IT'S WITHIN OUR POWER TO MORE AND MORE COME TO RESEMBLE OUR FATHER.
