Feast of the Baptism of the Lord – January 10, 2021 – Mark 1: 7-11 – Father Chris Heller
Years ago, back in the seventeenth century when I was in college, we had a great drama coach. He started one lecture by asking whether we knew why there were curtains on the auditorium stage. One of us said it was to give the stage crew freedom and “cover time” to move equipment around without interference. After a half-dozen more answers, he finally told us that the curtain was there to draw a line between two worlds: the one we came from to get to the play, and the world that would be created on the stage, for that day’s presentation. He then added a comment that’s stayed with me for years: he said the same division of two worlds happens when you and I walk in the door of a church from outside of it: we are entering a different universe!
So I began to think of this feast of the Baptism of the Lord and the whole Christmas season all together: and because GOD is best drama writer in the universe, telling the greatest story ever told, we can look at the MAJOR events we’ve celebrated together. And the story God’s revealing to us. And let’s use that image of a curtain opening to reveal a new/different/bigger universe to the world. Christmas is the most familiar: many drama writers would start with the MAJOR message carriers, from the story’s center, and later tell the story of those in the center. NOT God: insignificant, smelly shepherds 1st carry word. Why? To show this God’s inviting everyone to share new life w Christ, whose name means God saves The curtain opens a 2nd time, as it did last week on the Epiphany, with a new part of the message: now, Jesus will be known by non-Jewish people, too (including us!), as symbolized by the 3 Magi.
But you and I know that God has more of the story to tell us, so we have today, the Baptism of the Lord. Like the other two feasts, there were people on both sides of the drama curtain that day. i.e., John the Baptist was baptizing hundreds of Jewish people, confessed their sins and repented to God; at the same time, Jesus’ time to take his next BIG step into human history had now arrived. And while Jesus had NO need for repenting sins OR confession, Jesus humbled himself to John, this is his cousin and kinsman John, just the way all the others were humbling themselves too.
And as Jesus came out of the water, a HUGE transition of roles happened in human history. John’s part was coming to an end: he had done ALL the prep wk necessary 4people to hear Jesus. And this humble Savior is surrounded by the other two members of the Blessed Trinity: the voice of the Father, and the dove of the Holy Spirit. Here, the image makes most sense to me to capture the transition is the stick/baton that is handed off in Olympic relay races. John lets go, and Jesus takes it up, and begins his public ministry of preaching and healing and blessing, and loving. And while John the Baptist was a screamer, yeller and drama king, Jesus comes and simply invites us to join him, and invites you and me to put our gifts to work the way HE does: in humble, faithful, and direct service. That’s why the Church, to this day, teaches that Baptism and Confirmation confer the gifts and charisms of the Holy Spirit; they are the modern day versions of us going into the water and coming out with God’s seal of approval.
So, HOW does this feast speak to us in our time? There’s an American saint named John Neumann: a former bishop of Philadelphia, a big supporter of ongoing Catholic education for all, and a leader who wanted us to discover what WE could do to further God’s work on earth today. He said it like this: “God has a plan for each of us. We are placed in our different varieties of jobs NOT to get what we can out of them for OURSELVES, but to labor in them for Him.” For Jesus. What can WE do to help Jesus’ work move forward? Who can we help or encourage this week? Who needs an arm to support them? That’s why we are here. So, at last, we see what the curtain reveals: it’s God AND us. AND everyone else. It’s the UNIVERSE Jesus was sent to make holy. As with Jesus, we are NOT to do our OWN wills, but to fulfill the will of the One who sent Jesus to us: so, let our solidarity with Jesus in our words and actions keep us faithful and on track to serve God and one another: it is our calling and our destiny .
Father Chris Heller