The Solemnity of Our Lord's Baptism

In the gospel, we find Jesus baptized by John. John at first did not want to baptize Him, as John knew that he would be baptizing the Messiah, and that this Messiah should rightly be baptizing John. Jesus however knew that it was proper for Him to do what the Father wills. So John had to accede and baptized Jesus. After the baptism, the sky opened up from above Jesus and the Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon Him. Then a voice from heaven said, "This is My Beloved Son, listen to Him."

In this gospel scene, we witness the presence of the Holy Trinity. God presents Himself to us as Father, Son and Spirit. It is a scene which invites all to see God as three Persons and also how they are related to One another in a relationship of love. When we recall our own baptism, we are reminded that we are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. In our baptism, we are therefore, also called to a relationship of love and service in the Church - where the presence of the Holy Trinity indwells and guides us. Baptism in the name of God as Holy Trinity reminds us to a life of commitment to serve our brothers and sisters in the manner of Jesus.

Our Lord's baptism signifies His solidarity with our humanity. In the Incarnation, He took upon Himself all of our humanity (with the exception of sin), and through the baptism of John, He took upon Himself the way that all of us should go through - a life of repentance from our sins and turning back to God (a lifetime of conversion and growing more and more into the Spirit of Christ). In this Solemnity of the Lord's baptism, we are called to "enter more readily into the Lord's service" and to "commit ourselves everyday into a life of generous service to the Church." This was the example that Christ wanted to convey to us by His Baptism. Though He had no sin, He generously entered into our human condition and showed us the way to God - through a life of genuine service and charity.

2nd Sunday after Christmas - Epiphany

This Sunday we celebrate the manifestation of the Christ-Child to the world. We are told that wise men from the East came to offer this Child with gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh. They have heard that a King was to be born in Bethlehem and so they seek to find Him. When they were given the sign of a star, they traveled to Bethlehem.

These wise men from the East accepted the Christ-Child and gave homage to the One who would be both King and Martyr. The gospel says: "To His own He came, and yet His own did not accept Him". By the mere instance of great difficulty by which Joseph and Mary looked for a place to stay so that Mary can give birth to Jesus, is a point of fact to the future rejection of the King-Messiah. God-made-man needed a place to be born and yet even at the Inn where Joseph and Mary knocked, they were not given hospitality. But when finally one owner of an inn gave his stable as a place for them to stay, it was a very humble setting - for it is a place where animals stay and feed. Such is His lowly estate that the Word made flesh will reveal Himself to humanity.

Though Christ lived humility to perfection, He had power to save all humanity. In the Gospel, we read: "Any who did accept Him He empowered to become children of God." The power all Christians received from Christ is a life-giving strength. No power on earth can destroy the Spirit of life in Jesus and in all who follow Him. Christ is the Source of our life and our strength. Though death tried to overcome Him, the Father sent the Holy Spirit to vindicate Him from the power of sin and death. In this feast of the Epiphany, we already foresee through our knowledge of the faith, how God would empower Christ to defeat sin and death, and also share the victory with us if only we continue to have faith in Him.

Sunday in the Octave of Christmas - Holy Family

In the gospel, we find the angel of the Lord warning St. Joseph in a dream that King Herod wants to kill the Christ-Child, since He feared a threat to his throne. But Joseph did as the angel told him in a dream and took the Child and His mother to Egypt, where they stayed for a time. They stayed there until they heard news of King Herod's death. When they found it safe to return, Herod's son, Archelaus, took over the throne. St. Joseph was still apprehensive about this situation, and so he took the Child to Galilee and settled in Nazareth. Thus was it made known that Jesus grew up in Nazareth and became known in His ministry as a Nazarean.

Today, we hear of many news about Bethlehem sets being vandalized and Nativity plays being parodied in a bad light. It seems that the world once again wants to kill the spirit of the Christ-Child by killing the spirit of Christmas. But many Catholics and fellow Christians still respect the spirit of Christmas, want to keep it as an enduring and undying Christian tradition for succeeding generations of their families. These Catholics and Christians know that just as the Lord God saved His Son from the clutches of King Herod, so shall He be faithful with all Catholics and Christians who want to save the spirit of Christmas from being destroyed.

This Sunday, we also celebrate and honor the feast of the Holy Family. The Holy Family - St. Joseph, the Blessed Mother, and Jesus, the Christ-Child. A perfect family. One that all Catholics and Christian families would truly want to emulate in virtue. There are still many families who are able to faithfully live their Christian life and strengthen the family's bonding and links with each other. These families are often living ordinary lives - families in the West and the East, the North and the South, living out the Gospel values and witnessing with a simple presence to other people in their neighborhood.

Perhaps the gospel this Sunday calls us to trust more and more in the divinity of Christ, more than what we see as the usual securities in the world. If we do trust in Christ's divinity and power, then we would not be assailed with anxieties and be troubled when everything around us seems to be falling apart or crumbling. The more we make our hearts filled with the spirit of the Holy Family, rather than with the spirit of Herod, then we will be assured of God's protection. We can also ask the special intercession of St. Joseph, patron of the Catholic Church, to protect our families from the onslaughts of the world's values which tempts us to displace God's rightful place in the center of our hearts and lives. May Christ our Light always remain in our families and dispel the darkness of sin and the darkness of greed for power and riches.

St. Joseph, patron of the universal Church, pray for us.