This past week I was on silent retreat down in Alabama, and along the way there, I happened to stop at a Starbucks drive-thru for a cup of coffee. The young man at the window greeted me enthusiastically. Too tired to match his energy, I groggily said “Hey man how’s it going?”
To my surprise, he replied: “I’m good, actually. In fact, I just got home from a conference.”
Even though I really just wanted my coffee…I decided to take the bait and asked: “Oh really? What kind of conference?”
He said: “Well, I’m Catholic. And I just got home from a conference called SEEK… there were over 3,000 college students there. And it was AWESOME.”
I then revealed to him I was a Catholic priest on my way to a silent retreat, and he completely freaked out. We chatted a few more minutes (as the drive-thru line piled up behind me)… then he gave me my cup of coffee and I drove off…
And I have to say — I was so encouraged by this encounter. I was blown away by his boldness. His joy. His normal-ness! It was very brave of him to go out on a limb like that, in front of his coworkers no less, and share his experience with me… not knowing I was actually an undercover priest!
And I thought to myself:
If just a few of the 3,500 college students who gathered for the SEEK conference in DC… and another handful from the 17,000 students who gathered for the SEEK conference way over in Salt Lake City came home with THAT kind of Holy Spirit fire BURNING in their souls… these kids are going to change the entire country and probably… the entire world!!!!
But why am I sharing this story with you?
Well, because today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. And it’s on this feast where we remember a pivotal moment in the life of Christ and by extension… the life of the entire Church… including this guy working at the Starbucks drive-thru!
On this Feast Day, the Lord goes down into the waters of the Jordan, and as he comes back up, the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descends upon him in bodily form like a dove. And he hears the Voice of God the Father speak over Him:
“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
In this moment, Jesus is BAPTIZED with the Holy Spirit.
And it’s really the kickoff of His entire public ministry.
From this moment onward, his visible mission is officially underway. First, he goes into the desert and is tested by the devil. Then he bursts onto the scene, announcing the Kingdom, calling people to repent, healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons…
As our second reading from Acts of the Apostles put it: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power.”
But here’s something really important for us to understand —
Jesus was not baptized for his own sake.
Jesus didn’t need to “receive” the Holy Spirit — just as He didn’t need to be “made into” the Son of God. That’s a heresy from the early life of the Church known as “Adoptionism” — which says that Jesus BECAME the Son of God… was adopted by God as His Son… at His baptism.
We don’t believe that. We believe that Jesus already had the Holy Spirit living and dwelling within Him. We believe He already was the Beloved Son by NATURE…and had been from all eternity!!! …God from God, Light from Light… True God from True God!
So then… why exactly was Jesus baptized?
Well the answer is clear:
He did it for us.
Jesus was baptized in order to reveal to us — our own destiny! He did it in order to help us understand and believe in the power of our OWN Baptism! The HUMANITY of Christ was anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit, in order to show that OUR humanity could be anointed with that SAME Holy Spirit FIRE and POWER!!!
Another way to put this is — What happened to Jesus… is supposed to happen to us! We are supposed to do what Jesus did… and BE Jesus.
Jesus goes ahead of us. He goes first into the waters — in order to make the waters holy for us — so that when we go down into those same waters at our Baptism: We receive the same Spirit that He has! We receive the same zeal. The same boldness. The same LIFE. The same identity.
St. John the Baptist put it best when he said in our Gospel today: “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
And I think that’s what this kid at the Starbucks drive-thru helped remind me of. Because this kid… WAS ON FIRE.
Where did all of that boldness and motivation come from? Where did he find the courage to share his faith with me… some random guy buying coffee at 7am in Chattanooga, Tennessee?
I’ll tell you where it came from: It came from the Holy Spirit living in him.
It came from this young man’s knowledge and belief that by his baptism, he really truly was a “beloved son” of the Father. I don’t know how else to put it — but you could just tell that this kid knew how much he was loved by God. And therefore, he couldn’t help but share his joy with me.
But it’s so easy to forget that power of our baptism.
Most of us probably don’t even remember that moment in our lives — Very likely, we were baptized as little babies. And even if we were baptized as adults… it’s still really easy to lose track of how pivotal that once-in-a-lifetime event really was for us.
But Baptism is where it all started.
Baptism is where you were made a NEW CREATURE in Christ.
Baptism is where you died and rose with Jesus.
Baptism is where you became a member of His Church.
Baptism is where you were given the gift of Faith.
Baptism is the gateway to all the rest of the graces and blessings you’ve ever received in your entire life as a Christian!
Baptism is where your relationship with God was forever changed.
There’s a mark — an indelible mark — on your soul now.
And the single most important thing about you is this:
You are His beloved son…
You are His beloved daughter…
That’s who you are.
God has spoken. And when God speaks… it happens: “Let there be light” and there was light. “This is My Body” — and the bread becomes His Body. “You are my Beloved Son… my beloved Daughter” — And so it is.
If we want the Church to be fully alive today — if we want to live out our truest identity — then we need to remember and unlock the graces of our own Baptism. And that’s something the Lord can do… and wants to do in each one of us.
God wants to stir up and fan into flame the graces you were given at YOUR baptism. He wants to pour out His Spirit upon you and rekindle that fire that He started at your baptism.
Did you know that this was possible?
Or do we prefer to treat our baptism more like just some distant historical event that has very little relevance on our everyday life? That it’s just sort of a religious ceremony our family decided was important way back when, but what does that have to do with me now?
Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, the man who preached for the Popes from 1980 until just last year, once said that the Sacrament of Baptism is unfortunately often a “bound” or “unreleased” sacrament…
What does he mean by that?
Well, he means that all the graces are already there. The Sacraments always confer the grace they’re supposed to offer… objectively speaking. We call this ‘Ex opere operato’ in the Latin. It means that the Sacrament accomplishes what it is meant to do… which is give us grace. But… that doesn’t mean that the grace is activated by us!
For whatever reason, sometimes that grace isn’t fully tapped into by us.
So that’s what we can ask God for right now. We can ask God for those graces to be unleashed and unlocked.
God… please release the grace of my Baptism.
Remind us that we are Your beloved sons and daughters.
Fill us anew with the Holy Spirit and FIRE.
If you want that… If you want your sacramental baptism to be unlocked and released in a new way starting now, I’m going to end this homily by leading you through this simple little prayer, and I invite you to repeat after me if you so choose:
“Jesus I believe that you died for me,
and that you want to live inside of me.
I give my life to you and I choose to be your disciple.
I want to belong to you from now on.
Have Your way with me.
I ask you to unlock and release ALL the graces of my baptism and confirmation.
Let the fire of the Holy Spirit burn fully in my life.
Amen.”
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