Homily

The feast of the baptism of Jesus continues the series of manifestations of the Lord. Jesus manifested himself to Mary, Joseph and the shepherds on December 25 and to the Magi on January 6. And today, on the banks of the Jordan, he manifests himself to John the Baptist and the people of Israel. Jesus is now thirty years old, and, as we read in the Gospel of Matthew, “came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.” The feast of Jesus’ baptism reminds us of our own baptism. Most of us were baptized as infants, when we still could neither speak nor understand. We know that in the beginning, the Church only baptized adults and that the practice of baptizing new-born babies only became more common later. In more recent times, there has been great debate about whether it was better to go back to only baptizing adults, who are aware of the choice they are making. But, at least in the West, the custom is still to baptize children days or months after their birth. There is a profound motivation for this practice, one which makes the question of age less relevant. Baptism in fact is a gift that is given to us and precedes our choice. Whether we are adults or new-born babies, in a certain sense, Baptism does not depend on us. It is a grace given by God: he welcomes us into his family. We do not enter into God’s family by choice, you are welcomed. For this reason it is never possible to self-baptize. You always receive baptism from another. It was like this even for Jesus. He needed John to be baptized. And when the Baptist scoffed at himself saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” He had to do it all the same. And he, like everyone else, Jesus immersed himself in the Jordan and was baptized.
Well, receiving the Baptism as children shows very clearly that it is a grace, a gift that that it does not depend at all from us. And it is the Lord who chooses us before we choose Him, and He loves us not because of our merits, not because of our works, not for our small or large projects we can present and of which we can boast. No, the family of God is not meritocratic; it does not follow the laws of this world where people are valued for the work they do, for what they produce, for what they realize. In the family of the Lord we are valued only because God loves us. When as children we were brought to the baptismal font we had nothing, maybe even a few tears. But God has chosen us and loved us since the foundation of the world long before we realized it. And the love of God for us - a gratuitous love, not even dependent on our response - never ends. It is eternal. We can turn away from him, forget him, and even offend him. God will never forget us. That’s why you cannot repeat baptism; it is a word of eternal love of God for us.
Baptism, therefore, is an act of great freedom; it frees us from the slavery of being necessarily good, of being forced to submit works, of having to show particular qualities of having and showing achievements. Baptism frees us from all this. Indeed, it gives us the freedom to be children. And when one is a child, one is a child forever. God does not forget him or her: we are his forever; anointed with oil, we have received the seal of God on our foreheads and soul. “Even if your father and your mother will forget you, says the Lord, I will never forget you.” It is we who have forgotten this fundamental truth of the Christian life. Today, the holy liturgy reminds us of it, so that we may rejoice in this great and free love of God for us. We must return to our baptism and remember this first step of our lives, and thank the Lord for having loved and welcomed us. Yes, first of all we need to give thanks. Staying here, in the house of God, is a gift. But if it is a gift, it is clear that our first feeling cannot be but one of gratitude and thanksgiving. The Eucharist we celebrate is precisely this thanksgiving to the Lord for having chosen and loved us. Unfortunately, the mentality of this world of which we are children, perhaps more than being children of God, compels us to forget gratitude to the Lord. And this forgetfulness has made us more sad, because it does not allow us to enjoy the great freedom that is given to us; freedom from the bondage of ourselves and of the world, freedom to remain children at heart, that is dependent on the Gospel and love, the freedom to be generous, freedom to never feel orphaned, freedom from arrogance, hatred, love for ourselves. In this time in which we celebrated Jesus’ birth we have been asked to be reborn, to return children, to feel like children of God. Today the heavens that were opened on the banks of the Jordan open for us, because we may hear too, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Yes, the Lord is pleased with us, despite our poverty and our sin. Today, we all are returned-children to the baptismal font and we are not requested works or achievements, but only a heart that knows how to say to the Lord, “I love you.”