Dear friends, brothers, and sisters! There are two mutually complementary concepts – opposites – “pair of siblings.” Some mysterious guides to the human being. One introduces us to being and accompanies us through it, and the other separates us from it. It is about the concept of life and the concept of death. Death has always been and will be the secret of every age. Science is speechless before it; it is unable to explain it. Philosophy turns into poetry, encountering it, and man’s archenemy. Theology has always stuck to general theses when trying to clarify them. Death, that bloodthirsty enemy, began its work at the cradle of the human race and continues through the centuries until the present. However, in the eyes of the original Creator’s plan, it was not a part of human life but became a direct consequence of committing original sin. For this reason, every human being entering existence in this world is marked by the so-called original sin. In the case of original sin, as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI says. , we must understand that all of us – people of all times, carry in us a drop of the poison of thinking described or approached through the images of the book of Genesis. (Gn 3-4)
The consequence of sin is death. (Romans 6, 23). And so only “death” can reverse the effect of original sin. Lord Jesus told Nicodemus in a night conversation that “Unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Such death of the “old man” and the simultaneous “birth from above” is represented by Holy Baptism, which, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, is the entrance to life in the Holy Spirit (vitae spiritualis iguana) and the gate that opens access to other sacraments. Thus, the consequence of sin is also the fantastic solidarity of God, who sends us Jesus Christ as a friend and savior. That is why original sin is also called felix culpa – happy guilt. “Oh, happy guilt, for which such a noble Redeemer came to us!” (we sing during the liturgy of the Easter Vigil).
Today, we continue with the epiphany, originating in the appearance of the Lord to the wise men from the East, representing the pagan nations of the world. The service presents us with its second aspect, namely, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. The Jordan River is the largest of all Israeli rivers, measuring 251 kilometers, and its catchment area covers up to 18,300 km. It is formed by the confluence of three small rivers in the Chula Valley. During its course, it flows through Lake Tiberias until it finally flows into the Dead Sea, which is geographically the lowest place in terms of the Jordan region and the whole world.
Jesus descends into these ancient waters – to be baptized by John, although he did not have to because he was without sin; as St. Gregory of Nazianzus says in the texts of the sacred reading, he did it so that he could later come out of the Jordan and receive the “baptism of the cross” for which he came to this world. Exegetes say that the very act of Jesus’ baptism can be safely called a kind of ceremonial inauguration – the inauguration of the Messiah through the voice, the open sky, and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Today, however, we also remember our baptism, even more so the sacrament of reconciliation, which, like holy baptism, washes away all committed sins, light and grave. The words captured by St. Mark the Evangelist, sounding like an echo from heaven, are also addressed to us: “You are my beloved Son, I am in love with you” (Mk 1, 11). Thus, we can legitimately say that our Lord constantly enters the deepest bowels of our interior and sanctifies it with grace. After all, we have acquired God’s sonship through baptism, which is enormous! To be God’s son and daughter is the highest rank and privilege we could ever receive! No title, rank, or any other earthly merit equaling or even surpassing this mysterious seal of God impressed by baptism on the soul of man.
The author of the letter to the Hebrews, citing Psalm 2:7, asks himself: “When did he say to any of the angels: ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’ and again: ‘I will be his father, and he will be my son’?” (Heb. 1,5) So these words, beloved brothers and sisters, are analogously intended for all of us who have the honor of being called God’s children!
Saint Paul, the apostle of the nations, declares this even more clearly when he writes: “All who the Spirit of God leads are sons of God. You have not received the spirit of slavery to be afraid again, but you have received the Spirit of adopted sonship in which we cry ‘ABBA FATHER’! The Spirit Himself and our spirit testifies that we are God’s children.” So we are rightly called God’s children because we are them too! It is always good to be reminded of this fact again and again.
Brothers and sisters, baptism is immersion in the death of Jesus. Breaking the bonds of sin, he frees man, changes the human paradigm, and revitalizes the soul marked by sin! Let us give thanks today, tomorrow, and throughout our lives for the gift of God’s sonship! Jesus’ baptism was a symbolic act of the beginning of his public activity! Even our baptism should be the beginning – not the end of the life of faith. So let us step on the path of life in the spirit of God’s beloved children, let us not be ashamed of the fact that God is our Father, and let us not forget our mother, the Church, whose mystical body we form and to whom Christ entrusted the depository with the treasure of faith and appointed her as its steward!
