TestBuzz

Baptism of the Lord – Year C

January 9, 2016

Homily

• Recently, Pope Francis was guest of the Lutheran Christian community in Rome.
• He was fielded a tricky question asking whether a Catholic man could accompany his Lutheran wife to share Holy Communion together.
• The Pope stressed that the Eucharist is a sacrament of unity and that it pointed to being together in faith.
• The doctrine was clear but, on unity, was that unity not the one Baptism that we share.

  

• Are we not already together through Baptism? He could say no more because Baptism gave the answer.
• The World Council of Churches has said as much for some time.
• In its document BEM – Baptism, Eucharist, Ministry – it tries to unite the Christian churches. Specific church disciplines have frustrated this effort but many Christians are governed by what Christians have in common than by external differences!
• The poet John Donne once said that “no man is an island”.
• Perhaps Jesus, at the beginning of his ministry, felt the need to join a community.
• At a certain moment, against the wishes of John, he went down and came out of the water.
• He both joined the community and deepened his relationship with God: “You are my Son, the Beloved.”
• I recently read a short article by Father Timothy Radcliffe, the Dominican, Towards a More Humble Church.
• It reminded me of the humility in the Baptism of Jesus.
• Radcliffe points out that the Church, like all institutions, seeks to strengthen its power and influence. It manifests a “culture of control”.
• He sees problems with this. He pleads for a Church where we are all children of God Father and where authority is never abusive.
• My image of the Church, as an older Catholic, is that we have undergone an earthquake.
• We have been through great change. Some wonderful, some bewildering; we are still stunned.
• The baptism of Jesus suggests to me that the way forward, for a Church in fear for its life, is not through consolidating resources; pushing its own identity; bigger strategic planning (schools, hospitals and bureaucracies) or even clever marketing. We do not need bigger CEOs or multiplying employees.
• It is to rediscover, with the Pope, the basic character of Baptism.
• The singular sign and reality of walking with Jesus.
• In doing so we affirm our hope and courage.
• Jesus did not come out of the water alone; neither did we.
• Even if we feel anxious about our faith or wonder about our Church. We are not alone and we have every reason for confidence.
• The Christian is never alone. This is basic to Baptism.
• Do not worry too much about the storms and challenges, especially of the young and the future.
• Our way forward is not known but it is sure. It is not as we planned but it is a future.
• Our challenge is to keep faith alive and let God’s grace strengthen our resolve.
• I always remember the words of Bishop Jim Cuskelly: “No cowards in the Kingdom”
• And just the other night, when leaving the movie Star Wars, supposedly a Christian allegory, I remembered the words “The belonging you look for is in front of you, not behind you.”