THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD, YEAR B
8th January 2024.
Isaiah 55:1-11; Mark 1:7-11.
Today we celebrate the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ in the river Jordan by his cousin John the Baptist. This feast marks the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of the Ordinary Time of the year. In today’s gospel, the reflection is on the contrast between John’s baptism with water and Jesus’s baptism with the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist is not the expected messiah! His mission was to prepare the way for the coming of the messiah. Thus his baptism with water was a baptism for the remission of sins. He washes sins away in the Jordan river. But the baptism of Jesus Christ is the baptism with the Holy Spirit. It is both a baptism of the remission of sins and the reception of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. What we celebrate today is the baptism of Jesus Christ which means that we all have our sins forgiven and are gifted with the Holy Spirit.
Another name for Christian baptism is the sacrament of initiation. At baptism, one is initiated into the life of God – the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. It is the beginning of something new. During baptism the candidate is reminded that it is a new life in God. This life will enable a Christian to do the will of God and fight temptation to sin. The godparents are there to assist the candidate to keep the flame of faith alive and to keep the new life unstained by sin. Christian baptism is the way to overcome the world because it is the life of God. This feast comes at the beginning of a new year to enable us reclaim the new life in Jesus Christ heralded by our baptism.
Anthony Ekpunobi, CM.