We end the
Christmas Season and begin the Season of Ordinary Time with the Feast of the
Baptism of the Lord by John the Baptist[1]. Why
was Jesus baptized by John? Certainly, He was not a sinner who needed to repent
like so many of the others whom John baptized[2].
When Jesus was
baptized He accepted the Mission that was the whole reason why He became a man.
He began His public ministry which would end in the destruction of sin and hate
with obedience to the Father and love for His people. Jesus embraced His Mission,
defeated the devil, established the Kingdom of God, and then called on each of
us to continue His ministry, more than that, to complete His ministry[3].
We are called to
continue the Mission of the Jesus Christ in His Spirit, His Holy Spirit. We are
determined to complete the work of the Master.
We do this through our vocations to the married life, to parenthood, to
the priesthood, to religious life, or to the life of the committed Catholic
single.
When we love
others, we are continuing His Mission, for He is the Tremendous Lover.
When we use the
particular gifts He has given to each of us to help in the parish, in the city,
in our neighborhood, we are continuing His Mission.
When those of
you who are married put your spouse before yourselves, you are continuing His
Mission to make love the motivation of life.
When we strive
to be the best at whatever it is that He calls us to do in our careers, we are
continuing His Mission.
When we say
“No!” to sin and “Yes” to care for all who are hurting, we are continuing His
Mission.
When we make
time to be kind to those whom our society hates, the socially unacceptable, we
are continuing His Mission.
When we respond
to the Grace to do something for someone else, no expecting any kind or reward,
we are continuing His Mission.
When we realize
that we are not the center of the universe, but that Jesus is the Center, we
are continuing His Mission.
When we defend
life from conception until natural death, we are continuing His Mission.
You are my Beloved Son. With you I am well pleased. This was the
voice of the Father over the Son after Jesus was baptized by John. The Father
was pleased that Jesus embraced His Mission. He is pleased when we continue
Christ’s Mission.
What a gift we
have been given in Jesus Christ. Some people think that life is meaningless,
without purpose. But we Christians know
why we were created and how we can live meaningful lives. We can make a difference in the world by
uniting ourselves to the One who changed the world with His Life. We can continue
the Mission of Jesus Christ ■
[1] Sunday 13th January, 2013, Feast
of the Baptism of the Lord. W. Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11. O bless the Lord, my soul - Ps 103(102):1-4, 24-25, 27-30. Titus
2:11-14; 3:4-7. Luke 3:15-16, 21-22 [St Hilary].
[2] The Fourth Eucharistic Prayer
reminds us that Jesus shared our human nature in all things but sin. John himself said that Jesus should be
baptizing him, not he baptizing Jesus. So, why did Jesus go into the River
Jordan and let John baptize him?.
[3] This reminds me of the famous
story about the completion of Giacomo Puccini’s opera, Turandot. Puccini was one of
the greatest composers of opera of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. La Boehme, Tosca and Madame Butterfly are just a few of his
most famous works. His final work was
the opera, Turandot. He knew he was
dying when he started writing Turandot and almost completed it, but he passed
away before he finished the final act.
Puccini had many students and associated who gathered around his
deathbed. They made up their minds that
they would complete Turandot as an expression of their esteem for the great
composer. It didn’t happen all at once,
it took a number of years, but finally they finished the task. The opera debuted at one of the most famous
theaters in the world, La Scala in
Milan. It was conducted by the former
pupil of Puccini, Arturo Toscanini. The
music was beautiful and the audience was spellbound. Then in the middle of the Third Act, after
the great aria, Nessun Dorma,
Toscanini laid down his baton, turned to the people and announced, “It is at
this point that the Master died.” You could have heard a pin drop. Then
Toscanini looked at the audience and said, “But his disciples continued his
work in his Spirit.” Toscanini turned
back to the stage and completed the opera to the thunderous applause of all at La Scala.
