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Baptism of the Lord
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Baptism of the Lord (A8) January 11, 2026
Gospel;Mt 3:13-17
Jesus came from Galilee to John on the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” Jesus answered him, “Allow it now, for it is right that we should do all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. After Jesus was baptized, he emerged out of the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descend like a dove and come upon him. And a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am very well pleased.”
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Homily
As I read this weekend’s Gospel passage, I was transported back to my episcopal ordination when my older brother said to me: Dad must be saying to St. Peter, “This is my boy.” A similar exclamation from my father usually came when one of his sons did something that made him proud. I had the same impression as I read this Gospel passage: God, the Father, must have been so extremely proud of his son that he was touched to exclaim, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am very satisfied.”
Parents are normally satisfied with their children when they see them develop and grow as people meant to be, when they achieve their life goals. We see this so often on graduation day, when children receive their degree from university. Our Lord’s baptism is somewhat similar to that time. Jesus had spent 30 years under the tutelage of Mary and Joseph while Joseph was alive. These hidden years were years of preparation for the task that had been entrusted to him by the Father, that is, to be Emmanuel, God with us. As I said last week, Mary and Joseph would instruct the young Jesus in the requirements of the Deuteronomic code, so that he could be faithful to this vocation that had been given to him by the Father. Like doctoral graduates who receive their university’s distinctive toga and cap, Jesus is clothed in the Spirit, he is now ready for his public life, and the Father is very satisfied. The prophet Isaiah, speaking of the imminent messiah, tells us : “Behold my Servant whom I sustain, my Chosen One in whom my soul is well pleased. I have endowed him with my Spirit so that he may bring true justice to the nations.”
The Father’s joy in Jesus continued throughout Jesus’ earthly life because in him, through his way of being and relating to others, he reveals to the whole world of his time the God of Peace, Justice and Love, who walks with us so that he can bring true justice to the nations. And what is this true justice? It is the state of being in which people enter into loving relationships with God and with each other. These relationships ensure that all people have the capacities, both spiritual and material, to live a truly human life. A careful study of the Deuteronomic Code will reveal to us the fundamental principle of the Church’s social doctrine, namely, the human dignity of all persons whom you and I are called to seek and guarantee.
Like Jesus, you and I “have been chosen and endowed with the Spirit to bring true righteousness to the nations.” We have been clothed with the Spirit at both Baptism and Confirmation, so that we can fulfill this task, and the Father is well pleased when we are faithful to this task according to the way of Jesus, the elder son.
This obviously places certain responsibilities on us. We cannot therefore live thinking only of ourselves and our well-being. As followers of Jesus, we must be concerned about true justice, our relationship with God, from which we draw the strength to build righteous and loving relationships with others. We need to be concerned about the quality of our relationships with those with whom we interact on a daily basis. We must do everything we can to reverse the stereotypes that often prevent us from entering into relationships only with others. We must see others, whatever ethnic or social class they may be, as co-heirs of the kingdom of God, destined to spend eternity with us in heaven. We are therefore called to continue the recreation of the “garden” begun by the chosen people and which continues in and through the church, never perfectly but always. We see this in the lives of the saints, people like Damian of Molokai, Teresa of Calcutta, Archbishop Romero and others. , all the saints sought to build true justice around them. They did this through education; They did this through health care; they did it with their own lives and with the quality of the relationships they have established with others. At the end of their lives, God could say of them, through the Church, what was said of Jesus: “This is my beloved daughter/son, with whom I am very satisfied.” Dear brothers, this is why the Missionaries of the Poor were founded. May the quality of our relationship with God and others allow the Father to say the same about each of us. This is my beloved daughter/son, with whom I am very satisfied.”
Prayer
Almighty and ever-loving God, you were very pleased with your Son Jesus because He was receptive to the Spirit with whom You endowed Him so that He could bring true righteousness to the nations. Give us your sons and daughters that receptivity to the Spirit so that our lives may be lives lived in relationship with You and in relationships of true justice, peace and love with others. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our mother and your Son Jesus. Amen
