On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Mk 7:10-11).

The communion of divinity and humanity are revealed as Jesus comes up out of the water. Jesus, the Son of God, rises, God the Holy Spirit descends, and God the Father speaks. The heavens are torn open, God’s immanence, God within himself, the Trinitarian Love is expressed. Heaven and earth kiss, as “Jesus opens up heaven for us in the humanity he has assumed” (St Irenaeus). Just as at his crucifixion, “The veil of the sanctuary was torn open in two from top to bottom” (Mk 15:38), the holy of holies, the very seat of God is opened to us, there is no longer a separation from us and God.

Jesus has come to restore what which was lost at the Fall. In coming to be baptized, Jesus is not being cleansed of his sin, because he is free of sin. Jesus takes upon himself the sin of the world, our sin, and just as Moses led the Hebrews through the Red Sea, Jesus leads us to freedom from our sin. By our Baptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we are restored, we are redeemed. Heaven, paradise is opened up for us again.

Today as we remember Jesus’ baptism, may we recall the significance of our own. Each time that we dip our fingers into the holy water at church, may this not just be a mindless act, but a remembrance of our baptism when we were bathed in the light of Christ and given new life. When we were freed from Original Sin and made to be a temple of the house of the glory of the Lord such that the Holy Spirit now dwells within us. Let us remember the commitment that we or our parents and God parents made on our behalf, to reject Satan, all of his works, and empty promises, to reject sin and the glamor of evil and to refuse to be mastered by sin.

May we also recommit ourselves to believe and follow God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth; to believe and follow Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father; to believe and follow the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

It is in this faith and in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit that we have been baptized and that we are now to serve as priest, prophet, and king and bearers of his light to the world. May we continue to be by transformed and live by his Word so that as angels ascended and descended on Jesus, we too may be an avenue where heaven and earth meet for those we interact with in our every day lives. For as did Jesus heard, we too are God’s children in whom he is well pleased.

Photo: Baptismal font, Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, Oceanside, CA

Link for today’s Mass readings for Saturday, January 6, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010618.cfm