Baptism of the Lord

In the Office of Readings today we have a reading from a homily by St. Gregory of Nazianzus, on this feast day.  St. Gregory concludes that the basic premise of this celebration, and of Baptism itself, is that we be made clean.  While we speak of being made one in the Body of Christ, Gregory uses the image of standing along side of Jesus - sharing in his glory.

It is a nice image in that it implies that the Lord Jesus walks with us on our journey of faith.  It brings about images of the Good Shepherd, or the Disciples of Emmaus.  When we speak about being made clean it is not so much those little nicks and dings that we encounter throughout life.  It is the sins that St. Paul would say, stem from our passions and the darkest realms of our being.

Both in the ritual for children and adults, the priest or deacon invites those to be baptized (or their parents) to state their readiness to receive the sacrament.  Those involved are asked whether or not they will live a life of loving God and our neighbor, and avoiding sin and evil.  Maybe too often people really do not think about this pledge.  This is a very solemn obligation to live rightly with God and all of creation.  Maybe because we are thinking about the sandwiches and cake after the ritual, we forget to ponder the mystery that we are celebrating.

When the early Church baptized and confirmed the catechumens, their really was an all night vigil, with the whole community, which would pray to God for the catechumens, and the community itself.  The catechumens would rite their baptismal promises three times.  The baptismal font would be exorcised prior to the blessing of the water.

The image which is both comforting and challenging is that of Christ beside us.  Baptism is not done in a vacuum but in a community of faith.  Perhaps this is why St. Paul will admonish communities to live rightly, and no so much individuals.  Again there is that notion that we live with and for one another.

To be sure our Baptism draws us into a sacred and everlasting relationship with God the Father.  We are given grace upon grace to know God and live by his commandments.  In doing so affords us the possibility of being referred to as God's beloved sons and daughters.