The Baptism of the Lord
January 12, 2014
Click here to listen to this
homily (mp3 file)
Often, when I’m giving a tour of the cathedral, I like to tell people that it is
difficult to escape baptism in this cathedral. Like water in Seattle, it’s
everywhere. All around us. You first meet baptism out at the front
doors where Christ’s baptism is beautifully cast in bronze. Then, you meet
baptism again once you enter the cathedral and come to the baptistery. The
saving waters are right there in your path much as they were for the Chosen
People of old who entered the Promised Land only after passing through the
waters of the Red Sea. The waters of our baptistery are there to bless
you, yes, but they are also there to remind you of who you are. It is
difficult to escape baptism in this cathedral, and that’s a good thing!
And baptism doesn’t stop at the front doors or in the
center aisle! Once you have passed through the waters, so to speak, if you
happen to look up and beyond, you meet baptism yet again. That glorious
central stained glass window in the east apse is the baptism window. It is
today’s gospel story in glass and brilliant color. Jesus stands in the
waters of the Jordan, John the Baptist on one side, an angel on the other, and
over his head and body flow the waters of baptism. Above him, the heavens stand
open and the Spirit of God hovers, the Spirit of the Father who proclaimed Jesus
the Beloved Son.
And there is even more of baptism in that window:
There are two Old Testament prefigurings of baptism. If you look carefully
you will see that the waters of the Jordan don’t stop at Jesus: they flow
downward by some mystical geography or gravity, becoming, first, the waters of
the Red Sea through which Moses led the chosen people from slavery to freedom,
and then, at the bottom of the window, they become the waters of the great flood
over which Noah and his family and friends floated to freedom in the safety of
the Ark.
“Water, water everywhere!” It is difficult to
escape baptism in this cathedral and, my friends, it is good each year to have
this feast of the Baptism of the Lord because what happened to Jesus that day in
the waters of the Jordan is not all that different from what happened to you and
to me on the day we were baptized.
When Jesus stood in the waters of the Jordan, the
heavens opened up, the Spirit of God descended on him as a dove, and God’s voice
proclaimed him the Beloved One. A remarkable moment, to be sure but, my
friends, so was our baptism, so is every baptism. It’s true, we don’t see
the heavens open up, we don’t see the Spirit of God hovering, and we don’t hear
God’s voice proclaiming the baptized as the beloved one. But it happens!
It happened to us on the day of our baptism when we became part of the Church,
part of a Royal Priesthood: beloved sons or daughters on whom God’s favor rests,
called to do the works of mercy, called to advocate for justice as we heard in
today’s reading from Isaiah.
This past Wednesday in the little talk he gave during
his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis spoke about baptism, its
meaning and its importance. “A baptized person is not the same as one who has
not received baptism,” he said. He went on: ”Baptism is an act that touches the
depth of our existence. We are immersed in that inexhaustible fount of
life that is the death of Jesus, the greatest act of love of all history.
And thanks to this love we are able to live a new life, no longer at the mercy
of evil, sin and death, but a life in communion with God and with our brothers
and sisters.” Pope Francis concluded by saying that we ought to find out
the day of our baptism and celebrate it each year much as we celebrate our
birthday. Not a bad idea. In fact, a really good idea!
My friends in Christ, this feast of the Baptism of the
Lord is the perfect day for us to reflect on our own baptism and to give thanks
for it. And as we do, we can be glad that it is so difficult in St. James
Cathedral to escape baptism! Considering what baptism is all about, why
would we ever want to?!
Father Michael G. Ryan
