Baptism of the Lord

 
The great joy of the Christmas Celebrations has been flowing through the Epiphany to the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, where it has reached its fulfilment. Here, at the bank of the River Jordan, the Only Begotten (not Created) Son of God joined those sinners who asked for the gift of conversion, seeking God and His Commandments. We find Jesus Christ, the Lord, who expressed God’s closeness to all the sinners, who seek conversion and belonging to God and His vision of life. Here, Jesus showed his solidarity with them, but also with all of us, who put all our efforts to convert and to be rid of our selfishness. We desire that the Lord would drag “the old man” out of us and prepare us to do His deeds by making us into “a new man”, created according to the model of God, in His righteousness and holiness based on Truth. We come with the desire to be transformed into the image of Christ Himself.
 
At the moment of the Baptism of the Lord, we recognise the humbleness of love. By immersing Himself in the River Jordan, He immersed Himself in our human condition, embracing our weakness and frailty and became a penitent with us, healing the wounded by sins , who were detached from God. Only then the heavens opened for the manifestation of the Blessed Trinity, in order to announce Jesus from Nazareth as the promised Messiah who was to destroy the work of Satan and his empty promises; to destroy the ruling powers which would keep our will imprisoned. In Him, the bondage is liberated to live according to God’s style, ending the reign of mortal sins in their life.
 
Christ disarmed the Evil One by stretching out His arms on the cross. He immersed us in Himself and empowered us to fight against sin, and through His resurrection we are really enabled to triumph over the Evil One. In the sacrament of Baptism of all individuals, not only them, but also the Church experiences the living and active presence of the Holy Spirit who vitalises, enriches and develops her.
Fr Stan