First Reading – Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Responsorial Psalm – 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10
Second Reading – Acts 10:34-38
Gospel Reading – Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
The stories of Jesus’s baptism are an intriguing part of the Gospel witness, as they raise some thorny theological questions. If, for instance, the chief purpose of baptism is the forgiveness of sins (see: Nicene Creed), then why exactly is Jesus, whom Christians profess to be sinless, baptized? And, if Jesus is clearly “mightier” than John the Baptist, why does John baptize him and not the other way around?
Biblical scholars and theologians have a host of answers to these questions, but the thing that stands out to me—and that helps to reveal the significance of this week’s readings—is that baptism is not just for the forgiveness of sins in the Catholic understanding of the sacrament.
Yes, baptism does cleanse one from original sin and provide forgiveness from all forms of sin, according to Catholic teaching, but even more fundamentally, “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life.” As such, it is the sacrament through which “we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1213).
This last part, “and made sharers in [the Church’s] mission,” is especially revelatory. Baptism marks the start of a new life with a new purpose, as the Christian is brought into the Church and tasked with the responsibility of sharing the good news and enacting the Kingdom.
Without getting bogged down in the theological disputes about the meaning of Jesus’s baptism, it is at least safe to say that there are clear parallels to these aspects of baptism in the way Jesus’s baptism led to the declaration of his identity (“my beloved Son”) and the start of his public ministry. Baptism kick-started Jesus’s mission in much the same way it is designed to kick-start ours.
Viewed from this missional lens, the readings for this week help us recognize how we can and should go about answering the call to share the Good News as baptized believers. Specifically, the readings indicate that humility must be at the heart of our work on behalf of the Kingdom in this world.
First, humility, in the sense of “humbly regard[ing] others as more important than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3), is emphatically—if implicitly—promoted through the Gospel reading. John refuses to indulge the lofty expectations the crowds wish to put upon him and instead proclaims, “one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.” And, of course, Jesus humbly submits himself to John for baptism. There is a model of selflessness in both these figures’ witness today.
Second, Peter’s counsel in Acts of the Apostles reminds us that humility should triumph over self-righteousness, because “God shows no partiality” and is not boxed-in by our false certainty. “Rather,” Peter insists, “in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.” In a world where we are quick to pick sides and even quicker to put the people who do not perfectly align with our views on our enemies list, the capaciousness of God’s love asks us to overcome our suspicions about others and to hold our own assumptions more lightly. It is an invitation to an epistemic form of humility that will free us to engage the world more fully.
Finally, note how the first reading explains the arrival of the servant of God. He comes “not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street” but nevertheless “establish[ing] justice on the earth.” The contrast suggests that we should be less concerned about attracting attention to the good work we are called to do and more dedicated to buckling down and doing that work in the first place. Bucking the trend to bring “more heat than light,” this embrace of humility will help us focus on enacting the mission in reality rather than pontificating about it in theory.
As we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord this weekend, then, perhaps we can think about the ways the sacrament of baptism sets all who receive it on a missionary path toward, and we can then search for the humility we need to follow that path in faith.
