Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Today is the feast of the Baptism of Jesus in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. While baptism was not necessary for Jesus, he being sinless, he submitted to baptism as an example for believers to follow, to invite people to share in Jesus's relationship with the Father.

The readings for Mass today can be found here. The second epistle lesson is taken from the Letter to Titus and reads as follows in the New Jerusalem Bible translation:

You see, God's grace has been revealed to save the whole human race; it has taught us that we should give up everything contrary to true religion and all our worldly passions; we must be self-restrained and live upright and religious lives in this present world, waiting in hope for the blessing which will come with the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour christ Jesus.  He offered himself for us in order to ransom us from our faults and to purify a people to be his very own and eager to do good.  But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour for humanity were revealed, it was not because of any upright actions we had done ourselves; it was for no reason except his own faithful love that he saved us, by means of the cleansing water of rebirth and renewal in the Holy Spirit which he as so generously poured over us through Jesus Christ our Saviour; so that, justified by his grace, we should become heirs in hope of eternal life.

The epistle reading from the Letter to Titus links the manifestation of God's saving grace in Jesus Christ with the baptism that Christians receive when they enter into the Church, a baptism both of water and the Holy Spirit. From God's love alone springs the gift of salvation, brought to the entire human race by Jesus Christ the Savior. Jesus makes clear the love of the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit, a love that brings us into God's family.

This theme of God's redemptive love for mankind showing forth in Jesus Christ is the key theme that undergirds the Christmas season that just ended. And the feast of the Baptism of Jesus picks up and continues that key theme as the Church journeys away from Christmas and towards Lent. As Jesus is manifested as God's Son and the promised Messiah of the Nations both at Christmas and Epiphany, that manifestation continues at his Baptism. In that way, although the Christmas season is formally over, the feast of the Baptism of Jesus carries on with the key point of Christmas, that Christ is God made flesh. And he is made flesh for man's redemption, a redemption that is not earned by merely human works but which is given through God's grace. The emphasis of the second reading on that reality points us towards Lent, the liturgical season of repentance. This dual aspect to the feast (looking back to Christmas and forward to Lent) will manifest itself throughout the remaining part of the liturgical cycle before Ash Wednesday.