Homily Baptism of
the Lord Jan 12, 2020
As we
celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord today, we naturally are reminded
of our own Baptism. And so I would like
today to do more of a sermon, more of a teaching, than a homily, which is a
faith reflection on the readings.
Most of us, I
presume, have been Baptized. And many of
us were baptized as Catholics when we were children. How many here were baptized as babies???
For those of
us who were Baptized as infants, we may not know what date it was when we were
baptized. Some people now have a very
nice custom of saving their children’s Baptismal candle, and they bring it out
on the anniversary of their children’s Baptism and light it, and say a
prayer. That is a very nice custom,
because our Baptism was a very important and significant event in our spiritual
lives. It was certainly for Jesus, as we
heard in the Gospel, and it is also a crucial day in out faith life.
But most of
us, unless we were Baptized as adults, don’t even know the date of our
Baptism. Most of us do not know the name
of the bishop or priest or deacon who baptized us. Many of us may not even be able to remember
who are Godparents are.
I had to have
a copy of my Baptismal certificate when I entered the Paulists, and have kept
it in my file of important papers, and I looked it up. I was baptized not quite two weeks after I
was born. An aunt and an uncle were
Godparents and a Fr Keitz, of whom I know nothing, celebrated the Baptism.
If you don’t
know when you were Baptized, or who your godparents are, you may want to look
that up. I encourage you to pray for the
minister who baptized you, and for your godparents.
Baptism is
precious. It is important. But it is not
magic. It depends on faith. It depends on the faith of the person being
baptized if they are old enough, and in the case of an infant, it depends on
the faith of the parents and the godparents and the whole Christian
community.
We take this
seriously. A long time ago when I was a
new priest serving in the interior of Alaska, a couple showed up asking to have
their baby baptized. He had a big beard, they were really woodsy, she looked
real frontier type in overalls. I had
never seen them before. So I asked them
why they wanted their baby baptized. And
they honestly told me that Grandma was coming up from the lower 48 for a visit,
and she was always ragging on their rear ends to get the baby baptized, so they
wanted to go through the Baptism to shut her up. They were very honest. Woodsy Alaskans are like that.
I told them
that we were counting on their Faith for the Baptism, that they would publicly
have to proclaim the Creed. I went
through Creed with them and then asked if they believed all that. They said, well no, they don’t go to church,
they don’t believe. And I asked if they
were willing to be hypocritical by publicly proclaiming the Creed. Of course they didn’t, and so they decided
NOT to have their child baptized. Which
was the right decision.
Baptism is not
magic. // And while I have mentioned
Grandma’s, I have occasionally heard of a case where parents have become
frustrated because their grown children were not having the parents’
Grandchildren baptized. And then,
when the child has been left with the grandparents to babysit, unbeknownst to
the parents, the grandmother surreptitiously Baptized the child in the sink or the
bathtub.
I do NOT
recommend this approach; in fact, I strongly discourage it.
It is true
that any Christian, in the case of danger of death, can Baptize by pouring
water over the head of the person and saying, I baptize you in the name of the
Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Many of a delivery room nurse, or emergency room nurse, has done this
kind of emergency Baptism. Some of these
nurses were women, and I wonder if they were acting “in persona Cristi” when
they Baptized. But that is a discussion
for another time.
I have done
emergency Baptisms in Neonatal Intensive Care Units, and even in the delivery
room immediately at birth. The most
unusual involved a visit I made to a missionary friend of mine, Sr. Evie
Vasquez, in Rio Blanco, Guatemala. She
was driving me in her jeep to visit another town. Along the road we saw a young native woman
walking, carrying a very small child.
Sr. Evie pulled over and offered her a lift. The woman was going to the hospital because
the child was sick. Sr. Evie asked the
baby’s name. The response surprised
me. “It doesn’t have a name.”
You see in
that part of Guatemala you get your name at Baptism. Before that you don’t have a name.
Knowing that
the poor woman would be going to the hospital with her new baby ONLY if it was
critical and dire, Sr. Evie pulled over to the side of the road, handed me her
water bottle, and said, “Baptize him.”
There on the side of the road I baptized little Carlos. I have often wondered what happened to him,
and I pray for him.
Baptism is
really important, and the effects are eternal.
But you have only one chance at it.
Once you are baptized you can never be baptized again. As St. Paul says in Ephesians chapter four: “One
Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of all…”
Occasionally,
someone baptized in another denomination wants to be re-baptized as a
Catholic. Sorry, only ONE Baptism.
Baptism is
powerful. It changes our status by
uniting us to Jesus Christ. We share in
His role of Priest, Prophet and King.
Our fundamental identity is changed, and we are joined to Christ so that
we may resemble Him, not in facial features or skin color or anything like
that, but in becoming beloved children of God.
And that is an identity that lasts for all eternity.
I hope that as
we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord today we will all take some time to
reflect on the gift of Baptism; not something we have earned; not something we
deserve; but a wonderful gift that keeps giving for all eternity.
Happy Baptism
of the Lord!
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