From the Friars: The Birth and Death of Baptism

Today we celebrate The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. This First Luminous Mystery of the Holy Rosary is known as the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry (CCC 535). In Luke’s Gospel we hear, “There is a baptism with which I am to be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished.” In Matthew and Mark’s Gospel we hear Jesus refer to His baptism when James and John, the Sons of Thunder, ask the striking question regarding sitting at His right and left hand in glory. Jesus then references His baptism, which is only mentioned specifically in Mark’s Gospel, and denies their ambitious request saying that such “glory” is not His to give. He then ends by prophesying the future martyrdom of these two zealous sons of Zebedee adding the important words, “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:43-45).

The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River is the inauguration of the Son of God as the Suffering Servant (CCC 536). Jesus is born in order to die, and so He has no fear to be counted among those who are sinners. It is interesting that Jesus had no fear to embrace the sinner, the outcast, the leper. He knew that sin had no power over Him! Thus, He freely lays down His life as a ransom for many. How will you freely embrace the leper this week? Remember that Christ has won for us not a spirit of fear, “but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:7). The Cross of Jesus Christ demands that we die to ourselves in order to live for Him. We, much like the two sons of Thunder, often forget that our own baptism means that we are no longer sons and daughters of this world but Sons of the Father in Heaven. This week, Christ the Suffering Servant calls you to a hidden glory, a hidden victory!

This unseen glory consists in “the God Who sees me” (Gen. 16:13).

–Fr. Francis