Pastor's Message

The Baptism of Jesus- January 11, 2026

"This is my Son, the Beloved, I am well pleased.”   Matthew 3.17

                On Christmas Night the Birth of Our Lord and Savior, in Bethlehem, was announced to us, through the Shepherd by the Angel of God. The Angel proclaimed; “Do not be afraid; for see, I am bringing you Good News of great Joy, to you is born in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord.”

             Last Sunday, when we celebrated Epiphany, the Child Jesus was revealed to the People of the Nations through the Magi by a Star! We read in the Gospel Reading; “Then the Star stopped over the place where the Child was, they were overwhelmed with Joy. On entering the house, they saw the Child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage.”

             Today in the Gospel Reading, Jesus is revealed to us by the Father; A Voice came from Heaven; “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

            In today’s Gospel, Jesus, the Son of the Most High, arrives in Judea, drawn to the Baptism of John; a baptism of repentance!

            The question that may arise in many is; Why did He, the Son of God; He who was without sin require a baptism of repentance?

            The understanding is true, that Jesus, the Son of God, did not require this kind of Baptism, nevertheless, He chose to be baptized. First and foremost, in affirmation of John the Baptist’s Mission. John’s Baptism was in the salvific plan of God. We hear in the Gospel of John, John the Baptist resist to baptize Jesus! Jesus insisted; “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

            Second and more important; Christ’s Baptism marked a defining moment in his Mission, in the Plan of God, the Father.  It is true that Jesus had no sins to repent, but submitting himself to the Baptism of John, was an act of acceptance of his Mission as the suffering Servant of God. (Catechism of the Catholic Church. # 536) Pope Benedict the 16^th in his book, “Jerusalem of Nazareth, writes in baptism Jesus, “Loaded the burden of all ‘Human guilt upon his shoulders in anticipation of the Cross,” (J of N p 18).

             The Baptism of Jesus was his Yes to the Will of his Father.

             This was why the Approval Sign had an equal magnitude; for the first time ever in history of human kind, there was a public manifestation of the Blessed Trinity; Three Persons in the One God; All active! Jesus himself was present in his human body, the Holy Spirit descending on him in a visible sign; the Dove, and the desire and love of God, the Father, expressed in His Voice; “This is my Son, the Beloved; with whom I am well pleased.”

            Christ’s Baptism is the model of our baptism. As in Christ’s Baptism, there are three aspects made manifest in our 1^st Sacrament of Initiation; The Love of God draws us and in Christ Jesus makes us daughters and sons of God. We read in John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father, who sent me draws him to me.” Also in St Paul’s Letter to the Galatians 4:6 “And because you are sons and daughter, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, … so you are no longer slaves but sons.” Second, there is the anointing with the Spirit of God. And third, present, is the instrumental force of communion, we are baptized through the invocation of Blessed Trinity. Jesus, in his final instruction to his Disciples before he ascended to Heaven commanded; “Go therefore and make Disciples of all Nations, Baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of Son and of the Holy Spirit.… And behold I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:19-20)

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