Homily by:
Fr. Paul Weinberger
Saint William the Confessor Catholic Church
Greenville, Texas
January 13, 2007
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power; He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen
In Rome today, and following a longstanding tradition, the Holy Father baptized several children in the Sistine Chapel and offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Sistine Chapel is covered with scenes largely from the Book of Genesis. Down the back wall of the chapel is a depiction of the Last Judgment; in a sense, the beginning and the end is all contained in the Sistine Chapel. The paintings in the Chapel were very much influenced by the tradition of painting that came from the East, like you see on the cover of the bulletin.
This is known as an Icon and so today this Icon of the Baptism of the Lord follows the Sunday after the Feast of the Three Kings. There are only thirty years, more or less between the two events. Today ends the season of Christmas; I don’t care what you have already done with your Christmas tree, but today is the end of Christmas. The Baptism of the Lord seems misplaced, but it isn’t, and the saints and Pope Benedict XVI can give us some direction.
For example in the Divine Office on Friday St. Maximus of Turin wrote,
So, the Baptism of Jesus enables the baptism of all of us, to make us adopted sons and daughters of God the Father, brothers and sisters of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice the “lineup” of the Trinity; it is the same lineup as on the Icon on the front of the bulletin. You can see the half circle at the top. It is an expression of the Voice of God the Father and His presence there. If you look just below that you will see a white dove in that circle, then, of course, there is Christ. You see the Trinity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.Christ is baptized not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy and by His cleansing to purify the waters which he touched.
Last Sunday we celebrated the Adoration of the Magi. The Three kings were the first non-Jews to adore Jesus. Now, the Jews referred to everyone, who wasn’t Jewish as the Nations; they just lumped us all together. The Three kings were the first of the Nations to come and adore Christ, and they are our spiritual ancestors if you will.
The First Reading shows part of the reason why this Sunday is building on that. Isaiah the Prophet…
Thus says the Lord, “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put My Spirit. He shall bring forth justice to the Nations.”
He has been born to be revealed, not only to the Jews, but also to the Nations, to the rest of us and for a reason, because as the Holy Father points out in his book, “Jesus of Nazareth”. If you don’t have this book you need to obtain it. I am serious. Secular and religious bookstores have this book. I am not making money on this book; as a matter of fact, I am not making money. But anyway, getting back to the homily….[Laughter]
On page 19, very early on in “Jesus of Nazareth”, the Holy Father talks about this particular Baptism of the Lord and he speaks of the Eastern Church.
Fr. points to the front of the bulletin and shows everyone what an icon is.The Eastern Church has further developed and deepened this understanding of Jesus’ baptism in Her Liturgy and in her theology of icons.
So, the Eastern Church sees that connection between the Feast of Epiphany and Easter…between the Baptism of Jesus and Easter. The next paragraph on page 19 tells us exactly why, very succinctly. As I read this just gaze upon the icon on the cover of the bulletin.The Eastern Church sees a deep connection between the content of the Feast of Epiphany (the heavenly voice proclaiming Jesus to be the Son of God, for the East the Epiphany is the day of the Baptism)
This is a reference to the writings of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. It is also a reference to St. Luke’s Gospel. When Jesus went down into the waters He bound the “strong man”. The Holy Father quotes St. John Chrysostom, who said,The icon of Jesus’ baptism depicts the water as a liquid tomb, having the form of a dark cavern, which is in turn the iconographic sign of Hades, which is the underworld, or Hell. Jesus’ decent into this watery tomb, into this inferno that envelopes Him from every side is thus an anticipation of His act of descending into the netherworld. “When He went down into the waters He bound the strong man.” cf. Luke 11:22
A lot can be gleaned concerning the Baptism of the Lord by reading the Holy Father’s beautiful work, “Jesus of Nazareth”. In fact, one of the things he mentions is the verb used in the Gospel. When St. Matthew’s Gospel refers to the scene it says,“Going down into the water and emerging again are the image of the decent into Hell and the Resurrection.”
The Heavens were opened for Him.
Now, the verb there is the same verb used to describe a child being born. When the womb of the mother is opened as the child passes through the birth canal the water breaks and the child passes through. You notice the verb, but not the Child here; it is Jesus, Who is the beloved Son of God the Father. The incredible beauty of this is commented on by the Pope and he tells us why. Connecting the Birth of Jesus, the Flight into Egypt, Holy Family Sunday, and also Epiphany, and now the Baptism of the Lord on page 100. So, when you get the book it is not going to be hard to remember 100 and the page right next to it, 101. I am serious if you don’t have this book, it should be something to add to your library.
On page 100 he is referring to St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, Chapter 5. These few sentences explain why the Baptism of the Lord is placed so near to Christmas, Feast of the Holy Family, and the Epiphany.
In the next quote the Pope is referring to St. Paul here and his definition of freedom.But when he goes to repeat in Galatians 5:13, the claim that you were called to freedom, St. Paul adds, “Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, be servants of one another.
So, allowing ourselves to be led by the Spirit of God is freedom according to St. Paul and commented on by Pope Benedict. On the next page he mentions that no longer is the emphasis placed on being a physical descendant of Abraham, a Jew. But that the Birth of Christ and His Epiphany and being shown even to the Nations, shows how salvation is to be shown to the entire world.And now he explains what freedom is…. namely, freedom in the service of good, freedom that allows itself to be led by the Spirit of God. It is precisely by letting oneself be led by God’s Spirit, moreover, that one becomes free from the Law.
On page 101 the Pope mentions,
He opens them up; Jesus is the New Law, the new Torah.The flesh, physical descent of Abraham, is no longer what matters; rather, it is the spirit; belonging to the heritage of Israel’s faith and life through communion with Jesus Christ, Who “spiritualizes” the Law and in so doing makes it the path of life for all.
This day so near the birth of the Savior is about the birth of a new family, that God is bringing a new family into being through Baptism, through the waters made holy by the Baptism of Christ, and the Divine Life, which is promised to us.But in giving them the new Torah, He opens them up in order to bring to birth a great new family of God drawn from Israel and the Gentiles.
And now for a pop quiz. Last week I mentioned the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus and that January is the month of the Holy Name of Jesus, so we all resolved to pray the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus every day. Here is the pop quiz; did you pray it once over the last seven days? It gives us an indication of how much confidence, how much faith we have in the power of the Name of Jesus. God has literally moved Heaven and earth to reveal His Son to us, and at best we respond with a yawn and at worst, with mortal sin.No longer shall the “strong man” of this world reign in the soul; baptism and the power of the Holy Spirit takes away original sin and then any personal sins not to leave the soul empty.
The prayer on the back of the bulletin is one you have seen before, one that is based on the Holy Name of Jesus. In John 16:23, Jesus says that whatever you ask the Father in His Name, it shall be given to you. This prayer asks God the Father, in the Name of Jesus to send us the Holy Spirit.
The prayer Fr. Paul is referring to can be found HERE
As the Pope says on page 100 of “Jesus of Nazareth”….by letting oneself be led by God’s Spirit, moreover, that one becomes free from the Law and begins to live as an adopted son or daughter of God the father, a brother or sister, a temple of the Holy Spirit, and not according to the “strong man” of this world or the flesh. The Acts of the Apostles mentioned how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power.
In “Jesus of Nazareth” the Pope makes the point that the kings of the Old Testament, of Israel were anointed with oil and this Baptism of the Lord has Jesus anointed with the waters of the Jordan River. Christ means “the anointed”; Messiah means, “Anointed”. Jesus is anointed so that this reign of His can be shared with us if we are not so ignorant to go back to our former ways to the camp of the “strong man” of this world.
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power; He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen