The most important day of your life

Matthew 3:13-17

What is the most important day of your life? Maybe it was the day you were born or the day you got married. Normally we celebrate these life changing events every year. We all celebrate our birthday year after year even though we become less straightforward with how old we are with each passing birthday. Married couples celebrate their anniversary yearly, even if husbands need the occasional reminder. We tend to celebrate the most important days in our life. Here’s a question: do you know the date of your baptism? Today we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. It is a perfect opportunity to both look at the significance of this event and remind ourselves of the importance of our own baptism. 

It can be very difficult to understand why Jesus was baptized. Try to picture this scene for a moment. You are in the desert, beside the river Jordan. You are surrounded on all sides by a great mass of people. One by one each person enters the river and approaches John the Baptist who immerses them into the water. What are these people doing? They have come to accept John’s baptism of repentance. In being baptized they are publically acknowledging that they are sinners. More than this, they are making the choice to change their ways and choose a new path for the future. How can Jesus be among this crowd? How can Jesus, who is without sin, repent? John the Baptist seems to grasp the problem and tries to prevent Jesus from being baptized, saying, “I need to be baptized by you and yet you are coming to me?”  At first glance it does not make any sense of Christ to be baptized by John the Baptist. 

The Baptism of Jesus makes sense when we begin to see it in the light of the Cross and Resurrection. Many of you will know that a few years ago, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote a wonderful book on Jesus of Nazareth. There he tackled the question of the significance of Jesus’ baptism. He explained it this way:

Looking at the event [of Jesus’ baptism] in light of the Cross and Resurrection, the Christian people realized what happened: Jesus loaded the burden of all mankind's guilt upon his shoulders; he bore it down into the depths of the Jordan. He inaugurated his public activity by stepping into the place of sinners. His inaugural gesture is an anticipation of the Cross.

Simply put, Jesus did not get baptized for Himself but for us. At His baptism, Jesus is embarking on His mission as the “Suffering Servant” who reconciles mankind to God, which we read about in the first letter from the prophet Isaiah. At His baptism, He took our sins on Himself and descended into the water, which is symbolic of His death. Afterwards He came out of the water – a symbol of the resurrection – He left behind our sins in the Jordan. The significance of Jesus’ baptism comes into focus when we view it through the lens of His Cross and Resurrection. 

When looked at this way, we better appreciate the fact that the Baptism of Jesus completes Christmas. It is with good reason that today’s feast concludes the Christmas season. Among the Doctors of the Church there is a famous expression used to describe the purpose of the Incarnation that says: “God became man to make men like God”. St. Thomas Aquinas expressed it this way:

The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.

The first part of this phrase, which speaks about God assuming our human nature, happened with the conception and later birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. The second part of the phrase, which speaks about us becoming like God, was made possible in large part by the Baptism of Jesus. Because Jesus was baptized, our own baptism has force and power. As one ancient theologian wrote:

For when the Saviour is washed all water for our baptism is made clean, purified at its source for the dispensing of baptismal grace to the people of future ages. (St. Maximus of Turin)

Our baptism is precisely the moment in our life when we “become like God”. At our baptism:

1. We are grafted onto Jesus Christ
2. We are filled with grace, the very life of God
3. We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
4. We become forever a beloved Son or Daughter of God

God became man so that man could become like God. The baptism of Jesus is like the completion of Christmas.

Because our baptism is such a life-changing event, it is something that we should remember and celebrate. We all tend to celebrate well a baptism on the actual day of the event. Baptisms are usually accompanied by a big party and everybody gets dressed up – particularly the person getting baptized. A few years ago I spent some time in Tijuana, Mexico. In the chapels that I would visit, the people always had such beautiful celebrations for baptism, even though they did not have much money. In particular I remember vividly how one young boy was dressed at his baptism. He was of course dressed all in white, but his clothes were remarkable. He wore a small white tuxedo, complete with bow-tie. On the back of his tuxedo was embroidered in gold the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He was even wearing white shoes with a silver decal of the Holy Spirit on them. The parents of this young boy definitely realized that something important was happening to their son at his baptism. Though we celebrate baptism on the day of the event, most of us probably do not remember and celebrate our own baptism as we would our birthday or wedding anniversary. I admit that while preparing this homily, I had to look up the day that I was baptized. Pope Francis has encouraged us to remember our baptism day and celebrate it each year. If we don’t, he said “we end up considering it merely as an event that took place in the past – and not even by our will, but rather by that of our parents.” Our baptism was one of the most important days of our life, it is the day that we became forever a beloved son or daughter or God. This is something we need to remember and celebrate.

Today, as is the custom of the Popes on the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus, Pope Francis will baptize several children in the Sistine Chapel. Our own baptism, though not in such an incredible setting, is no less important. Today, I challenge each of us to follow the advice of Pope Francis by trying to celebrate in some way each year the day of our baptism. If you don’t know this day, find it out and write it in your calendar. We should never forget this life-changing day in which we were grafted onto Jesus and forever became a beloved son or daughter of God.

The priesthood, one month in

As of today I have been a priest for a month. The past month has flown by! It has been a month of many blessings as well as new things to get used to: a new parish, celebrating Mass, hearing confessions and having people call me “Father”.  Providentially, I had the opportunity to hear a great talk today that got me reflecting on what it means to be a priest. Today many of the priests of the Archdiocese of Vancouver had the opportunity to hear Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa speak. Since 1980, Fr. Cantalamessa has been the Preacher to the Papal Household. In this role, he preaches to the Pope and other high-ranking officials each Friday during Lent and Advent. Two words struck me from Fr. Cantalamessa’s talk: love and gift. These words seem to be at the core of what it means to be a priest and minister to people today.

Love

The starting point is God’s personal love for each one of us. Fr. Cantalamessa reminded us of Pope Benedict’s Encyclical, Deus Caritas Est. In this, Pope Benedict emphasized that God’s love is both agape and eros.  The latter is important to remember. God’s love is not some distant thing; He is drawn to us. Likewise, Fr. Cantalamessa explained that our love for God must be both agape and eros. We certainly must be willing to make sacrifices for God (agape), but at the same time we must be enchanted by Jesus and drawn to Him (eros). We are called to be friends of Jesus, not just His spokesmen. This was a great reminder for me one month into my priesthood. I need to remember that the primary thing for me is to love and follow after Jesus. Deepening my personal relationship with Jesus must be my primary concern.

Gift

Fr. Cantalamessa explained that there is a great difference between Christianity and other religions. He said that every other religion begins by telling its adherence what to do. “If you want to be saved, you must do this” and “if you wish to obtain enlightenment you must do that.” In other words, duties come first. In Christianity, on the other hand, duties – though important – come second. Christianity begins by telling us what God has done for us to save us. Christianity begins with gift rather than duty. In Christianity, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit – the very love of God – who allows us to do joyfully what is commanded. Fr. Cantalamessa quoted St. Augustine on this:

The law was given so grace we would seek. Grace was given that the law we might keep.

While listening to this, I was reminded of the fact that the priesthood is first and foremost an incredible gift! I have a tendency to get caught up with duties, the things that I must do in the day. At its core, however, I do believe that priesthood is the incredible gift of a unique way of following and relating to Jesus.

Preaching Love and Gift

Fr. Cantalamessa argued that in our preaching we need to imitate the example of St. Peter found in Acts 2:14ff. Our situation today is in many ways similar to the times of the apostles. Then, they were preaching to a pre-Christian world. Today we are preaching to a post-Christian world.  If we follow their example, we can succeed in changing the world, just as they did. St. Peter, newly filled with the Holy Spirit, begins by telling people about love and gift and not about duties. He begins by telling the people the good things that God has worked for them through Jesus: Jesus Christ died for our sins. This is the kerygma, or “the cry”. Fr. Cantalamessa explained that this is what Pope Francis is doing. He is starting be telling people about the love and gifts that God has given us in Christ. This is the primary thing, duties and commandments come second. To be able to preach in this way, we must first accept, more and more, Jesus as our own Lord and Messiah. Saying that Jesus is Lord, is a decision. It is saying to Jesus, “I joyfully submit myself to you.” When we preach the kerygma, then, we are able to call others to make the decision to accept Jesus as their Lord.

Fr. Cantalamessa finished with a powerful image. He explained that the painting “The Scream”, by Edvard Munch, has become something of a symbol for our modern culture that is often atheistic and materialistic, looking at our current existence as the only reality. The scream in the painting expresses how we are often lost with nowhere to look. It expresses the anguish of heart that has lost a sense of deeper purpose and hope. In the face of this scream, we are called to proclaim the cry of the kerygma, the good news that speaks of hope, gift and love: God in His love for us has given us the gift of Jesus who has died for our sins. Fr. Cantalamessa explained that we must somehow make the cry of the kerygma the foundation of all our preaching – definitely a challenge for the future!

Finally, in this short month as a priest, I have tasted something of the truth with which Fr. Cantalamessa ended his talk: there is no greater way to spend your life than serving Jesus and having Him as your friend!

Wise men: not just a nice Christmas Story

Mt 2:1-12

When I was five years old I got to play one of the wise men in our Church’s nativity play. You can probably guess my costume. I wore a bathrobe and a towel tied around my head. In my hands I held a box covered in gold wrapping paper.  Today, on the feast of the Epiphany, we should take a closer look at the wise men. The wise men are not just some nice story that we tell at Christmas or extra characters in a manger scene. In fact, the story of the wise men that we find in today’s Gospel actually presents a model – or paradigm – for our lives as Christians. Their story is our story. Let’s walk through their journey and see how it relates to our own. We will, of course, start at the beginning. How did these men come from a faraway place to meet Jesus?

The Star

The wise men were attracted to Jesus by the light of a star. It is very unexpected that the wise men – who were pagans and not part of the people of Israel – would be among the first to meet Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews. This shows that being led to Jesus was God’s pure gift. God wants each and every human being to come to know His Son. In His goodness God has led us to Jesus. What is the star that led you to Christ? How did you come to believe in Jesus? How did you end up being a Catholic? Though we might all answer this question differently, I bet that nobody here received a phone call from Jesus telling us to follow Him and go to Church. Isn't it the case that we are led to Jesus by some intermediary? Usually we are drawn to the beauty and goodness of Jesus through some person or event. For the wise men it was the star. God put people in my life who led me to Jesus: my family, teachers and friends at University. He also had me live through different experiences, some happy and some difficult. I can see that even something as simple as a book that I read at the just the right time helped lead me to Jesus. What are the “stars” in your own life? Give thanks for these people and experiences. They are a free gift which God put in our lives to lead us closer to Jesus.

Detour with Herod

On their journey to Jesus, the wise men got side-tracked along the way and found themselves in the company of Herod. The very same thing can happen to us as we try to follow Jesus: we take detours and get off-track. This can happen without us even being aware of it or making a conscious choice. Perhaps we become too busy with school or work and slowly drift away from Jesus by no longer taking the time to be with Him in prayer and at Mass. Or maybe some crisis in our life, such as an illness or death in the family, can cause us to become discouraged or lose faith for a time. We see this even in the lives of some of the saints. Take, for example, St. Ignatius of Loyola who was born in Spain in the year 1491. Though he was raised as a Catholic, as a young man Ignatius took a serious detour from the path of following Jesus. He was a soldier who was very concerned with gaining honor in battle, keeping up with the latest fashions and chasing women. Ignatius was arrogant and addicted to gambling. On one occasion he was arrested for beating up a rival. Ignatius did eventually get back on the path to following Christ. Though perhaps not as dramatic as St. Ignatius, in different ways we too can get sidetracked as we follow Jesus. The important thing is that when we notice our mistake we repent and get back on the right path.

They meet Jesus and give Him gifts

After their detour with Herod, the wise men finally were able meet the baby Jesus.  When they met Christ, the wise men did something very significant: they laid their gifts at His feet. We are called to do the same. In different ways, we have all met Christ and have caught a glimpse of His goodness, beauty and love. After we meet Jesus the only proper response is to lay our gifts at His feet. We give Him the gift of our time, to spend in prayer, and the gift of our love and devotion. We also lay at His feet our talents so that He can use us to serve others.  St. Ignatius met Jesus in a striking way, literally. One day while he was defending a fortress, a cannonball struck his leg, badly breaking it. While he was recovering, St. Ignatius asked that books be brought to him. To his dismay, the only available ones were a book on the Life of Christ and one on the lives of the Saints. While reading these books, St. Ignatius met Christ and was drawn to the beauty of a life spent serving Him. He decided to put his whole being at the service of Jesus. Years later he wrote a prayer, called the Suscipe, which expresses well the sentiments in his heart and those of the wise men as well:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

my memory, my understanding,

and my entire will,

All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.

To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.

Give me only your love and your grace,

that is enough for me.

Like St. Ignatius and the wise men, after we meet Christ we are called to lay our gifts at His feet.

St. Ignatius

They take a different path

After they have met Jesus given Him their gifts, we are told that the wise men went home by a different path. Encountering Jesus should never leave us unchanged. After meeting Christ during his recover, St. Ignatius took a radically different path. He thought to himself, “what if I were to live like these saints I keep reading about?” Ignatius became to devout his life to prayer. In time he became a priest, serving countless people, especially the very poor in Rome. Eventually he started a large religious community called the Society or Jesus, or the Jesuits, of which our current Holy Father, Pope Francis, is a member. From time to time it is helpful to ask ourselves, “in what way has my life changed as I follow Jesus?” In what ways am I trying to live more like Jesus and be of service to others? Like the wise men, meeting Christ should encourage us to take different paths.

When I was five, I dressed up as a wise men for an afternoon. Today let us remember that we are called to imitate the journey of the wise men our entire life. Where are you on this journey? Are you currently following a star to meet Jesus? Are you on a detour? Are you laying your gifts at the feet of Jesus? Are you allowing Him to take you on a new path? This journey is one that we can go through time and time again during our life. Wherever we may find ourselves, let us try to recommit ourselves to following Jesus. Let us pray that we might have the same desire that burned inside the hearts of the wise-men: a desire to always seek Jesus, to lay our gifts at His feet and to follow Him wherever He might lead.