Baptism of the Lord

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord marks the beginning of Ordinary Time in the liturgical year. In 2017, for those who have the Feast of the Epiphany transferred to a Sunday, we celebrate the feast on a Monday. That should not, however, distract us from the importance of this event in the life of Jesus. In fact, every event in the life of Jesus, including those not narrated in the Gospels, is important to us. This is because through the Incarnation Jesus brings sanctification to all he touches and does. A broken and fallen world is restored as the Son goes about the work the Father sent him to by the action of the Holy Spirit. This includes the water in which he was baptized. St Gregory Nazianzen puts it this way: "John baptizes, Jesus comes to him; perhaps to sanctify the Baptist himself, but certainly to bury the whole of the old Adam in the water; and before this and for the sake of this, to sanctify Jordan. As he is Spirit and flesh, so he consecrates us by Spirit and water." (Second Office of Readings for The Baptism of the Lord) Thus, the baptism by which we are incorporated into Christ and the Church finds its origin in Christ and not in the ritual actions of John the Baptist which, functioning like Advent, prepared the way for the coming of Christ.