Saturday, January 9, 2010

Homily for January 10, 2010 Baptism of the Lord

If I were king of the forest!!! Remember this song from the Wizard of Oz? The cowardly lion really desired to be a king. Of course we all remember, he lacked a certain something to be a king; courage. The cowardly lion simply had no courage.

We all remember the three traveling companions of Dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin man and the cowardly lion. Each lacked something to be completely whole. The scarecrow lacked a brain and the tin man lacked a heart. But the cowardly lion just needed some courage to be king.

We all have been enamored with kings in our lives. Yes even us Americans think about kings although we fought a war to kick one out. Think about it; what if we all could be a king; not just for a day, but a lifetime.

As people of faith, do we realize that we are indeed a king; and a priest and prophet too?

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and we bring to a close our Christmas season. We read today in Luke’s Gospel the story of Jesus being baptized by John. John, who admits he baptizes with water but one will come who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire, is placed in a position to baptize the One of whom he speaks. Yes, John the Baptist is asked to baptize God the Son. And His public ministry is revealed and more; the Blessed Trinity is revealed to as God the Son hears the bold proclamation of God the Father and experiences the dscent upon Him of God the Holy Spirit.

The Baptism of the Lord, coming one week after the Epiphany and one week before we read of the wedding feast in Cana are the manifestations of Jesus. This is part of the divine plan where the Christ makes known a little of who He is. Perhaps Isaiah says it better in today’s first reading: “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all the people shall see it together”.

Jesus allows Himself to be baptized at the hands of John so He may be revealed as the “beloved Son”. And Jesus, who again submits Himself completely to the Father’s will shows us what we must do.

Jesus asks us to be baptized too, not just with water but with the Holy Spirit and fire. This baptism reveals us as the ones who are saved; those who share eternal life with Him as we read in our second reading: “he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit”. Why? “So that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life”.

So it all begins with our Baptism. This is our first sacrament; the gateway to all the sacraments. Among the many wonderful things that happen at our Baptism is the moment when we were anointed with the holy chrism. This special perfumed oil, blessed by a Bishop, is applied to the newly baptized to mark that moment when we all are consecrated as Priest, Prophet and King. Yes, we all are made a King. Not just any king. This anointing makes us sharers with Christ in His three-fold mission of Priest, Prophet and King.

Listen to the beautiful prayer from the Rite of Baptism at that moment when the anointing with the chrism actually occurs:

“God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has freed you from sin, given you a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and welcomed you into his holy people. He now anoints you with the chrism of salvation. As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet and King, so may you live always as members of his body sharing everlasting life.”

There it is; we all are anointed and share with Christ the responsibility of being Priest, Prophet and King!

How can we put this into action during this upcoming first week of ordinary time in the New Year? Certainly, this is an extraordinary responsibility. As providence would have it, we are presented with at least three profound opportunities to exercise our shared mission with Christ.

Today, after both of our morning Masses, we are conducting our annual parish ministry fair. Please stop by in the parish hall and witness the many different ministries here in our own parish. Learn about these ministries, pray for their efforts and be open to joining one of these ministries. This is a tangible way to exercise our baptismal anointing as a Priest, Prophet and King.

Also today, across our own nation, the Catholic Church kicks off national vocation awareness week. In this special week ahead, please prayer in a special way for vocations to the ministerial Priesthood, and the diaconate and consecrated life. We have begun doing this as a parish family at every Mass. Among your many intentions this week, include those of increased vocations and ask specifically for vocations to be fostered right here at St. Jane’s and St. Michael’s. Again, this is another tangible way to be Priest, Prophet and King.

Finally, our Bishops have called all of us to action to contact our United States Representatives and Senators concerning health care. We are to insist that no bill that does not protect human life, eliminate federal funding for abortion or protect conscience clauses for health care workers should be passed. The bishops oppose the Senate version of the bill and favor the House bill that does eliminate federal funds for abortion. Act on their request! Again, this is another tangible way to be Priest, Prophet and King.

I love the Wizard of Oz and have always claimed the Cowardly Lion as my favorite character. You remember in the end, he gets the courage he so desperately needed to be a king. And the scarecrow and tin man join him in leading the people of Oz.

For us, we have more than characters in a movie; we have Jesus Christ. He is no coward and exhibits the greatest act of courage the world will ever know. We don’t need to share in the mission of the lion, scarecrow and tin man; we have the shared mission of Jesus Christ; Priest, Prophet and King.

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