Homily

The Liturgy of this Sunday reminds us of Jesus’ Baptism. This is the third manifestation of the Lord, following those to the shepherds on Christmas Eve and to the Magi on the Epiphany. Today we too are led to the banks of the Jordan River where John preached conversion of the heart and administered a baptism of penance. Many flocked to him to be baptized, to renew their heart and wait for a new world. They left their homes, left their usual places and went to him, though he was in a harsh, desert place, away from Jerusalem. It was widely believed that right there - where the ancient people of Israel had crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land - right there, the Lord would again manifest his liberating power to the people. Luke notes that the whole people "was waiting". Many expected a new era of peace and prosperity, and above all they were expecting the one who would free the people of Israel from the sadness in which they lived. Jesus, too, left Nazareth to go there, and along with the crowd, await the manifestation of God’s power. Perhaps, on the banks of the Jordan, around that austere prophet, people understood more clearly the words of the prophets, and in particular those of Isaiah that announced the coming of the Lord. He himself would lead the people of Israel on the road to liberation. We read at the beginning of those pages: "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term." John the Baptist looked exactly like the prophet mentioned by Isaiah, who "in the desert" spoke to the hearts of the people to prepare the way for the Lord. The Evangelist Luke notes, "All were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah." The inhabitants of Jerusalem and neighbouring areas needed to hear a word that would help them to hope. This is why they came to him.
Isaiah’s words that have opened this Holy Liturgy show us the many who come motivated by the hope of a rebirth of their lives and of the world. "Here is your God!" says the prophet. Our God, in fact, is not a distant and faceless God, without words and love. He came as a child and has the face of a shepherd who "will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep." This is the Saviour that the liturgy of this season seems to insist that we continue to contemplate. In fact, it is not easy to recognize him, as we are taken up by ourselves and by our rhythms, with a hardened heart and clouded eyes. The Gospel of Jesus’ Baptism wants to shake us from an easy turning in on ourselves, from being a protagonist always wanting to be in the spotlight that surely leaves us alone. On that day, Jesus mixed with the crowd that thronged the riverbanks, stood in line like everyone else, waiting for his turn to receive the baptism of repentance. Nobody realized who that young man from Nazareth was.
When John, whose heart was honed by prayer and eyes trained to Scriptures, saw him approaching he realized that he was the messenger of God and that he himself was not worthy to untie the laces of his sandals. According to the narrative of Matthew, John refused and did not want to baptize him. But he had to yield to the insistence of Jesus. Jesus humbly manifested himself. At Christmas both the shepherds and the wise men saw him as a child, small, helpless, lying in a manger. This poverty and weakness did not disappear in the adult Jesus. The humility of that child is not diminished by his growing of age. Luke clarifies the reason: in Nazareth Jesus certainly grew in age, but also in wisdom and grace, in listening to the Word and obeying the Father. How different from us! Generally the older we get the stronger and more independent we feel as managers of our lives. Jesus, however, gets in line to be baptized. After all, no one can baptize him or herself; no one can give him or herself the Spirit and grace. Jesus, we could say, in his humility as Son, let the Spirit come down on him and take full possession of his heart and mind. The Evangelist recounts that while Jesus is in prayer and immersed in water until he almost disappeared from the eyes of those present, the heavens open. This is the moment awaited by legions of prophets. Isaiah shouted it: "O that you would tear open the heavens and come down!" (64:1). This ancient prayer now found its full fulfilment: "The heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him" (Lk 3:21-22). This was the answer to the prayer Jesus raised to the Father while plunging into the water. The Father responded: "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." The sad heaven of men and women opened and the new and great design of God’s love for all people appeared. Even for Jesus a new time started. In the parallel passage of Matthew we read that Jesus, soon after the Baptism in the Jordan, "was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." He did not go into the wilderness by his own initiative or attraction; no, he was "led by the Spirit" there.
On this feast of the Baptism of Jesus we are invited to immerse ourselves in the loving plan of Jesus. It is his love, not ours. For we are indeed freed from ourselves and from our narrow-minded spirits. The Church, like the Baptist, here and everywhere in the world, encourages us and helps us to immerse ourselves in the new story begun by Jesus. Let us be led by the Spirit too, as Jesus was, and remain his disciples.