Baptism of the Lord: Our Power

The question for those of us who have received this power-packed sacrament is this: What are we doing with it?

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We had the Great Blessing of the Water last evening at Divine Liturgy. It was VERY beautiful, very ceremonial, and took a long time. Then we all filled our bottles and took some home with us.

What a great liturgy that must have been!

BTTT on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, January 8, 2007!

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Feast of THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD

Isaiah 42:1-4.6-7; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-38; Matthew 3: 13-17

MERRY CHRISTMASTIDE. Throughout the ages, Christians have celebrated Christmas as a season, including the twelve days between Christmas and the Epiphany as one long Christmas "day". The season of Christmas ends with our celebration of the Lord's baptism.

Jesus' public life begins with his baptism by John in the Jordan . (Lk 3:23; Acts 1:22). "The Baptist hesitates, but Jesus insists and receives baptism. Then the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes upon Jesus and a voice from heaven proclaims, "This is my beloved Son.'(Mt 3:13-17) This is the manifestation ("Epiphany") of Jesus as Messiah of Israel and Son of God." (CCC 535)

Recounted in our liturgy through the proclamation of the gospel of St. Mark, chapter 1, verses 1-11, the baptism of the Lord is "on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God's suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already 'the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.' "(CCC 536)

What is revealed as only a sign of the Lord's coming death in John's 'baptism of repentance' is not merely a sign for the new Christian who rises from the waters of the sacramental font. For each of the baptized, the immersion in, or pouring of, water and the invocation of the Trinity is a real sharing in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

"Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. The Christian must enter into this mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father's beloved son in the Son and 'walk in newness of life' (Rom 6:4)"(CCC 537)

"Jesus' public life begins with his baptism by John in the Jordan . (Lk 3:23; Acts 1:22). The Baptist hesitates, but Jesus insists and receives baptism. Then the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes upon Jesus and a voice from heaven proclaims, "This is my beloved Son.'(Mt 3:13-17) This is the manifestation ("Epiphany") of Jesus as Messiah of Israel and Son of God." (CCC 535)

St. Gregory of Nazianzus spoke well of this mystery when he preached: "Let us be buried with Christ by Baptism to rise with him; let us go down with him to be raised with him; and let us rise with him to be glorified with him." (CCC 537) St. Hilary of Poitiers expressed, more poetically, our adoption as true sons and daughters of God in baptism:

“Everything that happened to Christ lets us know that, after the bath of water, the Holy Spirit swoops down upon us from high heaven and that, adopted by the Father's voice, we become sons of God.” (CCC 537)

The greatest of gifts is ours in baptism: God's very own life and love. A life to overcome the death which is our inheritance from Adam's sin, a love to overpower and win us away from love of self to love of God for his own sake and our neighbors for his glory.

Another of the baptismal gifts we receive is the ability, in Christ, to praise and worship the Father in the Holy Spirit, and to be found pleasing to God as we do so. The baptismal font was often placed in the courtyard or near the entrance of early churches, and the practice continues so in many places today. We "entered" the Body of Christ at the moment of our baptism. We became worshipping members of the Son, pleasing and beloved by the Father, through our baptism. This is why holy water fonts are placed near the entrance of our churches.

As you dip your fingers into the font and make the sign of the cross each time you enter the His house to worship the Lord, remember it is by the power of your baptism that you render fitting and pleasing worship to God in your spiritual sacrifice of holiness of life and, most fully, the Eucharistic sacrifice. It is by your bath in the waters flowing from the side of Christ the High Priest in his one, perfect offering on the cross that you have been incorporated into the one, holy, catholic and apostolic body of Christ in the world, his bride the Church.


Suddenly, out of the crowd steps John’s cousin Jesus. Wait a minute. What’s Jesus, the sinless one, doing in a crowd of repenting sinners? What’s He doing coming forward to be baptized by John, who is by his own admission, inferior to his cousin? Jesus does not enter the water to be sanctified. No, the Holy One enters the water to sanctify. He empowers the water to become no longer just an outward sign, but a vehicle of the Holy Spirit bringing inner cleansing, rebirth, and transformation. Here Jesus institutes the sacrament of Christian baptism, something essentially different and greater than the baptism of John, which foreshadowed it. Immediately after He comes out of the water, the Spirit descends upon Him in the form of a dove. Now another sacrament is instituted by Christ, the sacrament of confirmation or, as the Eastern churches call it, chrismation. Notice that as the Spirit descends upon Jesus, the Father announces from heaven that this is His beloved Son. Here we have a majestic revelation of the Most Holy Trinity, one God in three persons. Then notice that Peter, speaking of this event in Acts 10:37, calls it Jesus’ “anointing.” In the Old Testament, people were anointed with a special type of perfumed olive oil called “chrism” which was stored in a bull’s horn, a symbol of strength. The first class of people to be so anointed in the Old Testament were priests, authorized to offer sacrifice on behalf of the people. Then came prophets, anointed to proclaim God’s challenging, energizing word. Finally kings were anointed by God to save their people from their enemies. Actually, the reigning king of Judah was called “the anointed one,” “messiah” in Hebrew or in Greek, “Christ.” So this feast is Jesus’ “name day.” Of course He is the Word made flesh, full of the Spirit, and savior of Israel from the moment of conception. But on this day, the Spirit anoints His human nature in a new way, empowering and equipping Him for battle, for His mission to smash the oppressing powers of sin, Satan, and death, and to lead His people into freedom. He is anointed or “christened” not just as Savior-King, but as the perfect prophet who speaks God’s final word, and as the perfect priest who offers the perfect sacrifice taking away all sin. Some wonder why we need the sacrament of confirmation. To some it appears to be an afterthought, as anticlimactic. After all, we receive the Spirit in baptism and receive Christ bodily in the Eucharist. So what else do we get when we are confirmed? Simple: We receive our mission and the power to carry it out. For being a “Christian” is not about just “getting saved.” It’s about sharing in Christ’s anointing to transform the world. The mission is an essential part of the package, not an option. That’s why we are called “Christians” or anointed ones. It is not just priests and religious who are supposed to make it happen. Every single one of us is called and anointed. And that’s why confirmation is one of the essential sacraments of initiation. Without it, one is not fully incorporated into the Church, which is a missionary community. The question for those of us who have received this power-packed sacrament is this: What are we doing with it? Dr. D'Ambrosio studied under Avery Cardinal Dulles for his Ph.D. in historical theology and taught for many years at the University of Dallas. He now directs www.crossroadsinitiative.com, which offers Catholic resources for RCIA, adult faith formation, and teens, with a special emphasis on the Year of the Eucharist, the Theology of the Body, the early Church Fathers, and the sacrament of confirmation. (This article originally appeared in Our Sunday Visitor and is used by permission of the author.)