Homily for Baptism of Jesus by Beverly Bingle, RCWP/USA

You are God’s chosen one—you, beloved of God. Just as Jesus is, so
are you, so is each one of us. Beloved of God.

Most of us have been baptized. Many of us were baptized as infants.
But it is not our baptism that makes us loved and chosen. Like all
the sacraments—the seven our Church recognizes and the countless other
signs of the presence of God on top of them—like all the sacraments,
baptism signifies and celebrates something that has already happened.
Just as a couple does not start loving when they say “I do,” so we do
not start being loved by God when we are baptized. Sacraments
recognize and make solemn our commitments—to God, to one another, to
the way of life that Jesus taught us.

Along the way, up to, a thousand years or so ago, our Catholic Church
recognized as many as 42 different sacraments. Among them were some
of the ceremonies that we continue to celebrate as blessings, like the
ashes at the beginning of Lent and the blessing of a new house. A
little imagination brings forth all kinds of possibilities: this
week, the sacrament of snow and bitter cold and melting, with its
rituals of shoveling and shivering and hot cocoa with marshmallows,
wet socks and cold noses, checking on family and friends and
neighbors... and, of course, the chickens.

Today in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke gives us Peter’s testimony to
Jesus’ commitment at his baptism. He writes that God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and Jesus went about
doing good works. We know from the gospels that Jesus’ baptism was a
deep spiritual experience for him. He felt the Spirit move him, and
he went off to pray, where the Word of God came to him, filling him
with certainty that he was loved by God. He knew the source of those
words he heard—he would have known the book of the prophet Isaiah by
heart, those words we heard proclaimed here today. And Jesus accepted
the direction in those words, understanding that God had given him his
life’s task: “I have endowed you with my Spirit that you may bring
true justice to the nations… to open the eyes of the blind, to free
captives from prison and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon.”
Jesus knew he was called to proclaim God’s love to everyone, no
exceptions, and he answered the call.

On March 19 I’ll celebrate the 70th anniversary of my baptism. My
parents spoke for me that day, committing themselves to raising me in
the faith, and they kept their promise. But it was many years before
I made the commitment myself, as an adult. Along the way were
experiences of the presence of God—“spirit moments”—when I caught a
glimmer of what it was all about, but it took me a while to say yes,
what with all the distractions and temptations of getting and spending
in this day and age.

Each of us is called and chosen to bring justice to the nations, to
transform our world into a place where everyone has a full life, that
is, to make God’s reign happen here and now through our acts of love,
peace, and gentleness. Nelson Mandela learned to do that. Elected
President of South Africa, he put the 27 hard years in prison behind
him and led the nation to peaceful reconciliation. The Amish of Nickel
Mines in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, showed that they had learned
to do that. When five of their children were murdered at the school,
and another five seriously injured, the community immediately extended
forgiveness to the gunman and comfort to his family. There was no
hesitation—it’s the way the Amish live all the time, the way of peace,
the way of forgiveness.

Over the years I had the blessing of participating in a great number
of parish meetings where I was able to observe a man who also took
this Isaiah passage to heart. Time after time I would notice him,
gently and peacefully, bring an idea or a suggestion to the
proceedings to pull us to focus on the morality of what we were about.
Like Jesus, he made a habit of praying the scriptures and faithfully
following God’s direction. I see that same Spirit moving in this
community.

Like most people on this planet, I’m not among the rich and famous.
Not on the cover of Time, no Nobel Prize, not even a “selfie” on
Facebook. Yet I hold the key to the reign of God because our brother
Jesus has shown the way. In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter says that
any person who lives in awe of God and does what is right is
acceptable to God. Any person, even me. That is indeed Good News.

--
Holy Spirit Catholic Community
Mass at 2086 Brookdale (Interfaith Chapel):
Saturdays at 4:30 p.m.
Sundays at 9 a.m.
Mass at 3535 Executive Parkway (Unity of Toledo)
Sundays at 5:30 p.m.
www.holyspirittoledo.org

Rev. Bev Bingle, Pastor
419-727-1774