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Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Cycle A
St. Mark, Fallston
January 12, 2020
Baptism: Empowering Us to Live
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Adam and Eve
One day a religion teacher asked her class of second graders to take out their crayons and draw a picture of their favorite Old Testament story.
One little guy drew a picture of a man dressed up in a tuxedo, with a top hat, driving an old car. In the back seat were two passengers, a man and a woman, both dressed in bathing suits.
The teacher said,“Brian, that’s a nice picture, but what story does it tell?” Little Brian was surprised at the question.
He responded, “Well, doesn’t it say in the Bible that God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden?” That little boy’s picture helps to introduce what I want to talk about today.
As we celebrate Jesus’ baptism, I want to reflect with you on the meaning of our own baptism. And that starts out with something called Original Sin.
Human Condition
Little Brian was trying to depict what happened after Adam and Eve sinned – God drove them out of the garden. We call Adam and Eve’s wrongdoing Original Sin.
In our Catholic teaching, we have also said that we all inherit Original Sin and that baptism cleanses us from this. Well, we have to understand this carefully.
We do not inherit Original Sin in the way that we inherit blond hair or brown eyes. Innocent little babies whom we bring here for baptism cannot be personally made sinful by something they didn’t do.
Instead we can say that Original Sin is the human condition into which we are all born. The truth is that our world is fractured and imperfect and that fracturing and imperfection came about through Adam and Eve.
Just think about our unconscious, knee-jerk reaction when someone offends us. We usually react by wanting to do something to get back at them.
That is the human condition, the imperfect, broken world we live in and into which we are all born. It is helpful to know this — and I might add — is Catholic teaching on Original Sin.
Symbols of Water, Garment, Candle and Community
That brings us to an important question: “What does baptism offer us in relation to this sinful or broken human condition” we find ourselves in?
I would say that baptism is the resource we have, the grace given to us, to live in the world and not be of the world.
The sacrament does this by giving us a community of faith that’ll (1) model and (2) sustain us as we grow in love of God.
So picture it: you’ve brought your first child or grandchild to the font, gathered with your family and friends. Water is poured, while the words, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” are spoken, the child is clothed in a white garment and given a lit candle.
And a new life begins for an infant that is secured within a loving family and a community of faith.
Living Out Our Baptism
Amidst these symbols and safeguarded within a faith family that will model and support us, our personal struggle within the broken world of Original Sin begins.
I would like to share some concrete examples of this struggle we all face today.
(1) We grow amidst the community as we come to know that ll comes from God – the One who transcends the heavens and the earth.
And so, we now live with a clear reverence for all that lives – especially for human lifefrom conception through natural death and a respect for the earth and are clear that we have to use our resources thoughtfully.
The opportunity to live in this way comes from our baptism in the name of the Father and so I ask, “Have we grown in that dimension?” It’s an important question, but I won’t ask for a show of hands!
(2) We grow amidst the community to know who God is and who we are called to be like.
We have the Word of God made flesh in Jesus Christ. And so, through Jesus, we now see God as loving, forgiving, and universal in his plan of salvation.
Through Jesus, we see ourselves as called to become merciful, peacemaking, and compassionate – the attributes that Jesus highlights in the Beatitudes. The opportunity to live this way comes from our baptism in the name of the Son and so I ask, “Have we grown in that dimension?”
(3) And finally, we grow amidst the community to live with God close to us.
Jesus, who is Emmanuel – a name that means God-with-us – has promised to be with us always through the Spirit. And so, we can now live an inner, interior life, where we know for sure that God is present at our deepest core, our soul.
Even in our darkest moments and loneliest times, we are assured of God’s presence. The opportunity to live this way comes from our baptism in the name of the Holy Spirit and so I ask, “Have we grown in that dimension?”
Conclusion
So, we find ourselves in a human condition that is imperfect and sinful, but with the tremendous gifts that Baptism offers us, the life of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and a community that makes living that way possible.
On this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord we give thanks and celebrate that the baptism of a new quality of life is a reality we can experience.
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