A baptismal reflection

     This past Sunday marked the celebration of the Baptism of Our Lord by John the Baptist.  It brings an end to the Christmas season for the Church and marks the moment when Jesus steps up and begins his public ministry of proclaiming the Kingdom of God.  When he entered the waters of John's baptism, Jesus was affirming his acceptance of the mission entrusted to him by the Father.  He was affirmed by the Father with the words that came from the heavens: "You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased".   And he was presented to those looking for and longing for the promised Messiah.

     The baptism of John was one of repentance from sin and a change of life.  It spoke of the desire of the one seeking baptism to do something with their life, to move in a different direction.
     The baptism of Jesus is a baptism of new beginnings, of being freed from the bondage of sin and set on a course toward holiness.  Jesus baptized with water … life-giving and cleansing and refreshing … and with the Holy Spirit and fire.  For those of us who have been baptized in Jesus Christ we are a new creation, called to holiness and empowered by the Spirit to walk blamelessly in the light of Christ.

     I watched the Holy Father's celebration of the Feast from Rome as he joined the celebration of the Mass with the baptisms of twenty-seven young babies in the Sistine Chapel.  This has become a part of the Holy Father's traditional celebration.  And as I watched, it occurred to me that this is one of the things of ministry that I miss in my retirement.  I always enjoyed celebrating baptisms, and especially when they took place during Mass.  It was a tremendous way of celebrating the life of the community and of teaching and sharing the faith.  I have many happy memories of those moments.  In my year and a half of retirement, I have only celebrated baptism once while filling in at the Church of Saint Paul in Greensburg, where I had served as pastor.  On that occasion, as I was meeting the parents and child and the family before Mass began, the child's maternal grandmother reminded me that I had baptized this child's mother in the same church and at the same font years before.  What a great sign of continuity.

 This little one's name is Tobias, who I baptized a few years ago at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

     The Holy Father baptized twenty-seven children, with the help of two Cardinals and a host of monsignors and priests who assisted him.  It brought back memories of my first assignment when we would celebrate the sacrament only once or twice a month and have a large gathering (sometimes over a half of church or more), with Fathers Sanesi, Gaston and myself sharing the roles of baptizing and prayers and anointing and other ritual.  They were great celebrations.  They are a part of the fabric of my memories.  At dinner yesterday one of our priests shared that at his retirement a friend had gone to the churches where he served and counted the number of baptisms in his over fifty years - a number over 1,000.  As he said, what a beautiful legacy.  I'm not sure what my numbers are, but more important than numbers are the lives that have grown from the waters of those baptisms over the years.  For that I am most grateful.