Sunday Homily 1-9-11, 2nd Ordinary Time
Readings: Isaiah 49, 3-6; Psalm 40, Here am I, Lord, I come to do your will; 1 Corinthians 1, 1- 3; John 1, 29-34
The Baptism of the Lord – Introduction to the Readings
Our second reading from Acts of the Apostles deals with what I will call a tipping point of major proportions, namely the account of how St. Peter understood that the Good News was not just for the Jews but also for all peoples. We have just a short section of the whole story; it is about the baptism of Cornelius and his family. It is also the last sermon which we have from St. Peter.
Prior to the section we read today there were two visions, Peter had a vision of all kinds of animals being lowered from the heavens and heard a voice telling him to eat, but he protested that the animals were unclean, only to hear God say that what He has made clean you have no right to call unclean.
Cornelius also had a vision, which told him to send some men to get Peter in a neighboring town. This double vision is what it took to convince Peter that it was okay to baptize gentiles without having them circumcised first!! This was a major change for the early community.
The other great tipping point is in the gospel, which gives us the account of the start of Jesus’ public ministry. This is one of those rare accounts, which all four of the gospel writers agree on, and marks the transition from Jesus’ private life to his public life.
By the way, our first reading is from a book we have been reading from for several weeks now, namely Isaiah. As John has pointed out, there are different writers of this work. Last week we heard from Isaiah 3 and earlier we had Isaiah 1. Today our reading is from Isaiah 2, who introduces us to the Suffering Servant.
Why didn’t the later two writers use their own names? For the same reason that you will see books with James Patterson’s name boldly on the cover, but if you look closely you will see that there is also another name below his. The well-known name adds authority to the unknown author; true today and true over 2,500 years ago!
The Baptism of the Lord – Homily
If we look for signs of confirmation in the New Testament they are all over the place, in fact they are clearly mentioned in two of today’s readings. We are told that we receive the Holy Spirit in Confirmation and that is what happens in Acts to Cornelius and his family as they are baptized and in Matthew’s Gospel to Jesus as He is baptized. The Holy Spirit is very much part of baptism; while pouring the water the words said are “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”.
So how is it that we now have two separate sacraments? I was baptized when I was four days old and confirmed when I was ten years old. In the early church there was only the sacrament of baptism.
But as the community grew and as the numbers who were joining grew – particularly after Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Empire, the bishops could not attend to all baptisms, both because of the large numbers joining and because their diocese were quite large.
In the Eastern Church, centered in Constantinople, the problem was solved by having the priest both baptize the candidate and confirm that action with the laying on of hands.
In the Western Church, centered in Rome, the bishops decided to keep the conferring to themselves, and so the practice grew that way of separating the sacrament of joining or initiation into two events. What also helped speed up this process was St. Augustine’s position that baptism was needed to overcome the effects of Original Sin, if one wanted to enter into heaven. Let’s not wait for the bishop to make his rounds for baptism!
It is clear just from our readings today that the Holy Spirit is received at baptism. What I would like us to focus on is this. We are told that we receive the Holy Spirit at Confirmation- we become soldiers for Christ. What does this mean to you and me here today? I find some clues in today’s readings. It was only after he was baptized and received the Holy Spirit that Jesus comes out from obscurity and begins his Father’s work.
It was only when the Spirit came upon both Peter and Cornelius, in our second reading, that there was a major change in the requirement for the membership of the early community. One no longer needed to be circumcised, or no longer needed to be Jewish. Membership was now open to the gentile world. The Spirit was responsible; it gave these people the courage to step beyond themselves.
At the beginning of mass today I quoted from Pope Benedict about the importance of quietness and reflection in our lives. It is only if we have this quietness that we can begin to hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit which can call us to new actions. I really believe that it was the Spirit that led me to this community and the courage to reactivate my priesthood after 33 years of silence. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?
Picture 1: Tony celebrating
Picture 2: The Music Machine, Wendy & Shonda & Ray
Picture 3: Sacrament of the sick
Picture 4: Offertory with Mary Ellen & Loretta & Ray
Picture 5: The Kites, Bernadette, Rich, & Fred