Christmas

Baptism leaves no visible marks. It is impossible to tell if someone has been baptized, just by looking at that person. This makes baptism a social sacrament. To be baptized and to keep our memory of baptism alive, we are called to keep the life of the Church alive in us. We keep records of baptism, in books and on certificates, but it is more important to be living the life of a baptized person. We are called to make our baptism visible not just to other people but to ourselves, by the way we live our life. After His baptism, Jesus went off to pray alone in the desert, but this was to prepare for the life lived for others, which He was now to begin. The temptations that He was to endure from Satan show this, as they are temptations to force the kingdom of God on humanity by power. Instead Christ calls each human being to an intimate sharing with Him in His work of redemption. How do we answer that call?

“The feast of the Circumcision of Christ commemorates the Holy Family’s fulfillment of Leviticus, which required a male child to be circumcised on the 8th day after his birth.

The symbolic significance of circumcision as a sign of the Old Covenant seems to be two-fold. First, it required the shedding of blood, which reminded Israel that sacrifice was required to fulfill the covenant. Second, it marked the organ of reproduction, which reminded Israel that the covenant was with Abraham and his “seed.”

The point of circumcision was to mark off the male children until the arrival of the one particular child who would fulfill the covenant.

Baptism is the sign of the New Covenant that replaced circumcision. Circumcision was an external sign. Baptism points to an inward renewal. This is the main distinction between the Old Covenant and the New. The Law of Moses was written on tablets of stone. Through the Holy Spirit, the Law is now written on our hearts. This fulfills the prophecy of Deuteronomy, which said, “The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live”.

The day of circumcision was also when the Jewish people named their children. Our Lord is named “Jesus,” which means, “God saves.” Baptism is when we “Name this child”. Christians typically name their children in advance of baptism. The significance of naming in baptism is not the meaning of the name. Rather, the Christian name is the name by which God knows us, since we become His adopted children in baptism.

This all gives us some perspective with which to approach the New Year. Today is, after all, also New Year’s Day. In the light of the truth that Jesus has fulfilled the Law for us and that we are sons of God and heirs of the covenant promises through baptism and faith, we ought to resist the temptation to approach the New Year the way the world does, with the pattern of bold resolution destined for failure.

Part of our inheritance “in Christ” is freedom from captivity to the pattern of behavior that characterizes the world. Life in Christ begins with success. God makes us His children by grace. He forgives us and accepts us as we are. Then, by grace, God begins to do His will in our lives.

Christ has come. He has fulfilled the Old Covenant. God’s gift to us, given in baptism and received through faith, is that we are now the sons of God of and heirs of all His covenant promises. Thus, for the New Year, resolve, as the epistle says, to “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).”

St. John’s prologue, opening his Gospel, tells us that Jesus is the light that enlightens all people. It is a powerful statement. In our time the word “enlightenment” is most often used to refer to the great growth of scientific knowledge and enquiry during the 17th and 18th centuries, which sought to understand the world by the sole means of human reasoning and intelligence. God has taken steps to make himself known to us and in a way that is at once humbling and magnificent.

In order to know Jesus we are called to listen to Him and speak with Him. This is what the disciples did in their lifetime, coming to know this special person very well. When the Lord was crucified it looked like a disaster, but the resurrection opened their eyes to the dawning truth. Jesus is the Son of God. He is the living Lord. This is amazing gift of Christmas. Not only that God became a child for us, but that by God’s grace now we may become children of God in this broken world.

We move the clock forward nearly 2000 years to find a happy couple bringing their newborn infant to the church to be baptized. A crowd of family and friends have come to witness the event and to share in the happiness of the day. As the parents hold the child over the font, the priest pours water over the child’s head, saying, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” He anoints the child with oil on the forehead and says some prayers. Is this the life-changing experience foreshadowed by the baptism of Jesus? It has to be said that for most of those witnessing the baptism described here, will be a fairly bewildering ritual, but for those of us with faith something extraordinary is taking place. In this way we are born again of water and the Holy Spirit and enabled to enter the kingdom of heaven. It took Jesus 30 years to grow in wisdom, in stature and in favor with God and with people before the events of His baptism changed His life. The voice from heaven affirmed that He was truly the beloved Son of God. He knew that He had been sent to bring Good News to those who were poor. Maybe now we should spend some time pondering on what baptism really means for us. We have been exposed to the cleansing water of rebirth and renewed with the Holy Spirit. We have been forged in the furnace of fire of God’s love join Jesus in His mission to bring God’s saving love to our world. So now what are we going to do?

What are our values? We may well need them in this Christmas period. Many families have a wonderful time at Christmas. Different generations can get on each others nerves. It is then that Christ’s values can keep a family together. St. John, in our second reading today, reminds us of the love that God our Father has “lavished upon us”, and calls us to put into practice the commandments that Jesus gave us, to “love one another as He told us to.” If we live out that love in our domestic lives, we will truly be happy and holy families. So much depends on what values the family live out. For Christians, family life is holy only when it embodies the values for which Christ lived and died. When we have these values we can happily celebrate at Christmas dinner – and when put them into practice when the mood changes and the party is over.

“In the beginning”: that’s how it starts. In the Bible there are lots of words to describe Jesus from the heavenly angle, like “wisdom”, or “image”, or “radiance”. But the most important one is “word”. Jesus is the Word of God. At Christmas, we see this Word of God as a tiny baby in the straw. To this baby, Mary and Joseph will give the name of Jesus. Yet He will always continue to be the Son of God. This tiny person is eternal.

Our response is simply one of adoration. When we behold the Christ child in the arms of Mary, or on the cross for that matter, we behold the fathomless Son of God. He has taken flesh for our sake. Thank you, Lord, more than we ever say. “To all who did accept Him He gave power to become children of God.” Dear Lord, may we always deserve that title.