Baptism of the Lord, cycle A

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.