The feast of the baptism of the Lord brings the Christmas season to completion. The time of Advent taught us to wait, Christmas reminded us that the Son of God became man for us, he was born in poverty and humility to speak to our hearts. In the Epiphany we contemplated the manifestation of the Lord to all people. That child born of Mary in a cave is truly born for everyone, to bring the light of grace to everyone and conquer our darkness, the darkness of sin, of division, of enmity between peoples. The Magi who came from the East are the sign that the gift of Jesus is for all peoples, no one is excluded.
The Word of God today offers us the theme of the manifestation of God's love by showing the beginning of Jesus' public life, with his baptism in the river Jordan. First of all, we are struck by the fact that Jesus manifests himself as an adult, mixing with the numerous people who turned to John the Baptist to receive the baptism of penance, to confess their sins.
The people were full of expectation for the Messiah. Sometimes they even thought that John the Baptist himself was the Messiah, but he always declared that his was the baptism with water, a baptism to confess sins, while the Messiah would baptize them with Spirit and fire.
But that day Jesus arrives to John the Baptist to be baptized along with the others. Jesus, the innocent Son of God wants to receive the baptism of penance. What is the meaning of this gesture? He has not sinned; he is the Son of God; why does he get into the line with sinners as if he were one of them?
Let us not forget that Jesus came into the world as the lamb of God who takes upon himself the sins of the world. Truly He came to dwell among us and to take upon himself the painful human condition wounded by sin.
What happens at the Jordan River represents precisely this closeness of Jesus to sinners. While everyone went to the Jordan confessing their sins and releasing them into the waters of Jordan by immersing themselves in it, Jesus, on the contrary, does not have his own sins to be purified. Rather, he immerses himself in the Jordan River to take upon himself our sins, our evil, the evil present in the entire world.
As we see the love of God in the Son of God, Jesus manifests himself, not afraid to come to us, sinners and to take on our sins, to free us from the slavery of sin. We see in this way, the closeness, the compassion and the mercy of God for us.
We are surprised to see that just when Jesus re-emerges from the Jordan, a powerful epiphany takes place. The heavens open and two great signs appear. First, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descends and remains on Jesus. At the same time, the voice of the heavenly Father testifies to Jesus as his beloved Son. Just at the moment in which Jesus becomes closer to sinners, the divinity of Jesus manifests itself, through the voice of the Father and the descent of the Spirit.
This profound divine and human dynamic will be present throughout the life of Jesus until the Paschal Mystery: just as he takes the place of sinners on the cross, God fully manifests his merciful love. This mystery of love invites us not to be afraid of Christ but to approach him as we are, with our limitations and our sins. He came precisely to save us and to give us new life.
In this way today's feast also reminds us of our baptism. The baptism we have received is not only that of penance administered by John the Baptist. We have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, we have been baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us never forget our baptism. We must always be aware of this immense gift we received that has made us children of God forever. With baptism we have been made participants in divine life, we are members of the body of Christ. We belong to Jesus Christ, we are his, through our belonging to the Church. To the question: who am I? We should answer as the ancient martyrs did, I am a Christian, I am of Christ.
Baptism preserves our true identity as sons and daughters of God. Each of us comes from different countries with different languages and traditions, but we have received the same baptism. Before God we all have the same dignity, the dignity of the children of God in Christ Jesus.
The Holy Spirit who descended on Jesus in the form of a Dove also descends on the Church and on each of us, through the sacraments and charisms. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are called to be witnesses of Jesus and his love before the world. No baptized person can be passive in the Church. The gifts of the Spirit animates us and pushes us to walk together and to be witnesses of the joy of the Gospel in our family, among friends, at school, at work and in the society.
May Mary, Mother of God, and Mother of the Church, help us to bring Jesus to others and to always be peacemakers in this World.