The Baptism of the Lord

The Baptism of Our Lord

To anyone I have not seen or spoken to, or written to yet, Happy New Year, and I wish everyone a year that is filled with joy, with hope, with faith and with the love of God, and with good health and happiness.

This weekend we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord. That moment when Jesus walked into the waters of the River Jordan and John, reluctantly I think, baptised him in the  river. I say reluctantly because John had already said, “Someone is coming….and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”

John knew who was stood before him. He knew that this was the Son of God, the Messiah, who had come to save the human race. He witnessed the affirmation from God, “… the Spirit, like a dove descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.”

John knew and believed what was before him: Jesus was the Messiah. He had already been preaching for a long time that the Messiah was coming and that the people should prepare a way for the Lord. This people that had become blasé in their thinking of the Lord; who had become casual in the practice of their faith and almost lacklustre in their acknowledgement of God and the role He had played in their history, in their lives, in their development. They had become lost.

John was trying to wake the people up to a truth: The Messiah was coming; they needed to get ready, they needed to prepare themselves and their societies to receive the Lord. They needed to wake up, to shake themselves up, to look around and see, hear and feel where they were going wrong. The Lord was coming and He who would baptise the human race with the Holy Spirit, Jesus, the Messiah, was coming to save them; to save humanity; to save us.

There is an interesting note in our Newsletter this weekend which speaks, in part, about time. It offers that there is a big difference between a wedding and a marriage: a wedding is a day, a special day, but a day nonetheless. A day that is planned to its nth degree to make sure it runs perfectly. But a marriage is the lifetime that follows, that no amount of planning can prepare you for. You live your marriage each and every day anew; you take and face each challenge together and get through them together. You rejoice and celebrate each win, each victory, each surprise, together. Together you live your marriage through constant support for each other; constant care and love for each other; constant determination that nothing will come between you or drag you down.

Similarly so with a Christening and a Baptism. My Dad used to tell me that we Christen ships, we baptise people. He was an ex-Royal-Navy-Man but he had a point too. A Christening is the day and what happens on it. Whenever I have celebrated a Baptism, I have sometimes asked the congregation how many of them were invited to and knew that they would be attending  a  Baptism. Most have all looked at me blankly because they had come for a Christening, the day that had been planned, again usually to its nth degree.

But I emphasise to them that to live a life as a Baptised member of the Church’s family is not about this one day, it is about the rest of the child’s life and the example that friends and family can offer it as to how it should live, showing God’s love alive in it, in them and in all around.

Baptism is for life. It is a one-off, singular, gift upon which we then build our lives. It is a gift, a sacrament in which we receive our first meeting with the Holy Spirit, this same Holy Spirit that came down upon Jesus at His own Baptism. And this gift then has to be lived; to be developed, to be built upon and also used as the glue, the mortar upon which and through which we can build to become better people.

When we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, we need to look at ourselves as baptised people of God. Are we the best that we could be? Have we built the best “me” that there could be, one that reflects Jesus’ spirit, His love and care for those around Him; His determination to challenge wrongs where he encountered them; His complete and total trust in God His, and our, Father.

This weekend is a time to celebrate. It is a time to recall and remember that we are Baptised into the family of God. That we are blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. That we are loved by our Father in Heaven and that His Son, Jesus Christ was born, lived, suffered, died and rose from the dead for us and that we are saved. Wow! Now that really is something to celebrate!

We were lost and now we are found.

Bidding Prayers

1.      That we remember with joy that we are all baptised members of God’s family and share this joy with everyone that we meet. Lord in your mercy

2.      That we remember all those who have not been baptised and pray that they will encounter God’s love and Holy Spirit in their lives. Lord in your mercy

3.      That all God’s children are strengthened by and with His Love and grow to rejoice in and with the knowledge of His love in their lives. Lord in your mercy

4.      That God’s peace and love should spread across our world and resolve all issues of war and conflict. Lord in your mercy

5.      That all our parishioners who are sick or unwell in any way are comforted by our prayers and loving actions. Lord in your mercy

6.      That all those who died in 2022 enter into eternal rest with their Lord. We remember especially Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI – may he rest in peace. Lord in your mercy

7.      That Mary, the Mother of our Saviour joins her prayers with ours as we now pray together, Hail Mary, full of grace  . . . . . . .