Sunday Gospel reflections: Our Baptismal call to act
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Year A
My daughter was baptized 10 years ago on this very feast. Wearing a flowing white baptismal gown that goes back several generations in my wife’s family, she was quite the fussy baby, and she cried during the entire rite. Except, astonishingly, when the deacon anointed her with the sacred chrism!
Chrism “signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized, who has become a Christian, that is, one ‘anointed’ by the Holy Spirit” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1241).
This first sacrament of initiation allows us to be “freed from sin and reborn as sons of God” (CCC, 1213).
After Jesus was baptized, as recorded in Sunday’s Gospel, he begins in public ministry of healing the sick, and proclaiming the Word of God. Baptism is also our call from God to do his work in the world, as it joins us to the Church’s mission. Jesus is our model: We can use our talents and treasure to “serve [others] in the communion of the Church” (CCC, 1269).
Will we?
Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Psalm 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10
Acts 10:34-38
Matthew 3:13-17
