By this time, most of you, if not all, have already removed your Christmas decorations in your own houses and backyards. Not in the Church. We still have our Christmas light outside by the façade of the Church and the poinsettias, Christmas trees, lights and the crèche are still prominent in the Church. Why is this so? The liturgical years extends the Christmas season until the Baptism of the Lord. Last Sunday, we celebrated the great feast of Epiphany. It is the manifestation of Jesus as savior of all mankind. With His baptism, that manifestation continues. The expression in the Gospel that continues this manifestation is this: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
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The Baptism of the Lord is an important event in the life of Jesus because it marked the beginning of his public ministry. As an initiation to public ministry, it is significant to establish the identity of Jesus – thus the words, “You are my beloved Son.” I believe this expression “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” does not only establish the divine identity of Jesus. This expression somehow defines His mission. Now, you have your identity go to your mission. Let us look at that mission in the word “Beloved.” The heart of the mission is the to share “love” and to be a witness of the Father’s love. “With you I am well pleased” connects us to the Finding of Jesus in the temple at the age of twelve. From there He grew up in wisdom and age and was pleasing in the eyes of His people. Now He appears at the age of thirty and ready to go public in his mission. And because He grew in love in the house in Nazareth and the love of the Father, now He has to share that love to the world and to all peoples. Let the love we experienced at home then radiate in all the things that we do.
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The Baptism of the Lord should remind us that we also have received our baptism. Our own baptism establishes our own identity. And today, our baptism should remind us of our mission, a mission that we share with the mission of Jesus - share His love so that other people will experience that love. It is said that Baptism as a Christian initiation leads us to three C’s. The first C is Christ. By baptism we become Christians. The second C is the Church. By baptism we are incorporated into the Church; we become members of the Christ’s Body. And the third C is Charity. By baptism we are called to embody and become the instrument of charity, of the love of Christ.
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I love to tell this and I would like to tell it again. My name “Edmund” means “someone who takes care of a treasure.” When I learned the meaning of my name while in the high school seminary, this motivated me to become a priest because I believe the greatest treasure is Jesus. What is your name? And what is in your name? What is the meaning of your name and does it define your mission in life?
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Last Sunday, our Lifeteen presented their 12th Musical entitled, “The Greatest Gift”! I was there to watch it and personally enjoyed the show. I appreciate these young people and their mentors to have conceptualized the plot of the Musical and tried to drive their message to the audience. They did not only showcase their talents. They also showed their resourcefulness in coming up with their materials, props, music, production gadgets and more. The plot of the Musical revolved around the struggles of young people today. Those struggles were also experienced in the past and I believe will also be experienced by young people in the future. The plot is in the context of relationships in the family, among peers and between the loved one and the beloved. What is Christmas without you? And what is Christmas without love? Young people today want their identity. But we on our part remind them of their mission. Identity and mission, two words I picked up from this Musical and would like to use them to approach the biblical message this Sunday.
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Last Sunday, we started our Masses with the Diocesan Stewardship Prayer. Instead of the Stewardship Quotes that catch our attention after Communion, let us be one in offering the Diocesan Stewardship Prayer at the start of the Mass. This should open our consciousness that “we are the Church,” that we have to be one in thanking God for the gifts we have received and that we have a social responsibility in our faith. We end the announcements at Mass with the Capital Campaign Prayer as our way of expressing our stewardship in our own parish.
Fr. Edmundo N. Barut, Jr.
