The Baptism of the Lord – Feast Year C. By Tobe Eze

The Baptism of the Lord – Feast Year C.

FIRST READING
Isaiah 40:1—5, 9—11

SECOND READING
Titus 2:11—14; 3:4—7

GOSPEL
Luke 3:15—16, 21—22

THEME: THE WATER OF REBIRTH

Christ being God, a man without sin, why was he baptized? We are taught that baptism is a sacrament that washes away our original sin, makes us Christians, children of God and bringing us into one faith. Christ had no need of all these but he was baptized. Incantation was to divinize humanity and to humanize divinity. He took our nature to save us. His life on earth was just as a yardstick that all should follow and that contributed to his acceptance to be baptized in the river Jordan by John. As he has shown us examples of the way we should follow, he practiced many of them which baptism is one of them. To show us the importance of baptism, he said to Nicodemus, if you are not reborn by water (baptism) you will not enter the kingdom of God. When he was about leaving his apostles, he charged them to baptize people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Continue Reading.............................

The major problem today is not about people baptized being, rather, are people converted of heart. John the Baptist before baptising taught the people to make sure that they are converted of heart. We do catechism classes for years to receive baptism but after that we live a different life style all together.

The first reading is telling us to level every hill in our lives today. Hill of unforgiving spirit, hill of pride, hill of insincerity, hill of faithlessness and many other hills we have to level. It is also encouraging us to fill many valleys in our lives, valley of charity, valley good heart, and valley of caring and other things we have to fill so that they will overshadow our evil ways.

The second reading also has many things to tell us. It started with, Beloved, The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good. They don’t need explanations for they are self explanatory. If we are really baptized not only for people to see but in the heart, we shall abide by the words of the second reading.

The gospel brought the incident of the baptism of our Lord. I just want to pick an aspect of it. This is my well beloved son. Can God today say to us, this is my beloved son or daughter? Is our way of life reflecting Christ as those baptized?

If we put the directions of the first and second readings into action, if we receive baptism both physically and spiritually, God will gladly say the same thing on us, this is my beloved son or daughter, with whom I am well pleased. It does not take much from us just to live out what we promised during baptism. In order to share in the water of life Christ has given us through baptism, we shall reject Satan really from our hearts and all concerning him or it. THANKS AND HAPPY SUNDAY. BAPTISM OF OUR LORD.