Take the plunge

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Water is the principal symbol of baptism.  This is quite apt for water points to two characters of the sacrament.  First, we know that water cleanses us.  Just so, we believe that the grace we receive at the sacrament of baptism – a word from the Greek word for “to plunge” – washes us clean from original sin and any personal sins we may have committed.  John the Baptist adapted and extended the Jewish cleansing ritual into his baptism in the Jordan for the forgiveness of sins.

For much of our Church's history, our focus has been on this particular character of baptism. So concerned were we about this that new parents would take the American Express card attitude towards baptism.  They were encouraged to “not leave home without it,” making sure that their baby was baptized as soon as possible.  If we look back at our records, we’d find that most of us cradle-Catholic baby boomers were baptized in the first few weeks of our lives.

However, the baptism of Jesus by John points us to another character of Baptism, for Jesus had no need for forgiveness of sins - he was "like us in all ways but sin."  Yet Jesus submits humbly to this baptism to identify Himself with the sinners of His day, with the sinners of all time, with us.  This baptism is not the end of His sin, for that never existed in the first place, but the beginning of His mission on earth - to, as Isaiah puts it, "open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement...to free those who live in darkness."  This is the road to the Cross, the road that Jesus starts to travel with His baptism by John.

And, in our baptisms, we become identified with Christ, incorporated into Christ and His Body here on the earth, the Church.  By incorporation into Christ, we not only receive forgiveness of sins, we commit ourselves to His mission, to follow Jesus, to do as He did.  Baptism is not simply a cleansing of the old, but the start of a new way of life.  In Paul's words to the Romans, with baptism, we "walk in the newness of life."  As we must drink water to preserve our earthly lives, the waters of baptism symbolize for us our new spiritual life – a life in Christ, a life in the Spirit.

To live this new life, we make promises – or our parents and godparents made promises for us – during our baptism.  We promise to reject Satan, to reject all of his works, and to reject his empty promises.

We reject Satan when we reject a life which excludes God, for that is what Satan desires for each of us – the absence of God. 

Rather, we insist on living in and gaining strength from a deep and abiding relationship with God, praying constantly, seeking to know God through his revelation in Scripture, and participating in the sacraments. 

We reject Satan’s work when we reject violence, for it is by the force of violence that Satan attempts to mask the love of God, to darken the light of the world, and to draw us apart from one another.

Rather, we insist on the force of God’s infinite and unconditional love.  We insist on loving others as God, who created each one of us in love, loves us – without limit, without condition.

We reject Satan’s empty promises when we reject pride – the pride that lets us believe that we can secure and make permanent earthly pleasures and happiness through our own efforts; the pride sets ourselves above others; the pride that we can eliminate discomfort and pain in our lives by destroying those who cause us discomfort and pain; the pride that lets us act as if we can save ourselves. 

Rather, we humbly accept the salvation that Jesus won for every person on earth by his death and resurrection.  We insist on seeing every other person as one for whom Jesus suffered and died on the cross.  We humbly carry Jesus’s cross by forming our will to God’s will, turning away from self and towards the other.

In baptism, God invites us to plunge into a new life with him.  It is a life which requires us to reject our apparent self-interest.  It is a life of the cross, a life of humility, and a life of service.  

However, it is also a life created through God’s gracious love, a life redeemed through God’s unconditional love, a life sustained and strengthened by infinite God’s love. 

We need nothing more.  Take the plunge.