Current Homily

                                                                                                                                                                               RECTORÍA DE SAN JUAN DE DIOS

THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD, CYCLE A

                                                                                                                                                            Is 42:1-7; Ps 29:1-10; Acts 10:34-38; Matt 3:13-17 

                                                                                                                                                                                                           Fr. Josué Arellano

THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED…

We have reached the end of the liturgical season of Christmas. With this celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, we close this cycle and prepare ourselves with open hearts to begin Ordinary Time, where we will meditate on the sayings and deeds of Jesus.

This celebration of the Baptism of the Lord has several teachings, but before discovering them, we might ask ourselves why Jesus had to be baptized if he had no sins. To this we can answer: Jesus places himself among sinners to identify with us; he situates himself in a concrete reality in our history to become our brother. If we recall beforehand the moment of Jesus on the cross, we see that Jesus is also in the midst of sinners. Jesus wants to elevate our dignity from sin to grace.

Therefore, Jesus does not come to baptism to purify himself, but to sanctify the waters that will also sanctify us and give us the possibility of a new life.

When the heavens open to reveal Jesus as the beloved Son of the Father, they symbolize the opening of God's heart, which receives us all equally. On the one hand, it reveals Jesus' identity, but it also reveals his own identity and ours as well.

That is why, in this celebration, we must first be grateful for the gift we have received in baptism, because the Lord has placed something holy within us. When John the Baptist is surprised to see Jesus in line to be baptized, he says to him, "I am the one who should be baptized by you, and you come to be baptized by me?"

Jesus also places in our hands, through the grace we receive in each sacrament, the grace of parents to guide and accompany their children on the path of faith after they have received baptism. He not only places something holy among us, but He, the Holy of Holies, gives Himself in every Eucharist so that we may be sanctified.

Let us ask the Holy Family that, just as they responded generously to  God, we too may do so in our lives. Amen.