Homily for Feast of Baptism of the Lord

Homily for the Feast of the
Baptism of the Lord

Jan. 9, 2023
Acts 10: 34-38
Salesian HS, New Rochelle

“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power” (Acts 10: 38).

by Pietro Perugino

In the gospel reading (Matt 3:13-17), we heard how Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit descended upon him, and God the Father voiced his pleasure in his beloved Son.  This 3-fold happening—baptism, descent of the Spirit, and God’s acknowledgment—is what St. Peter summarizes in his preaching to Cornelius the centurion and his household:  “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power.”  Peter also mentions Jesus’ works of power:  “He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil” (10:38).

It’s a theological truism that in his baptism in the Jordan River Jesus sanctified all the waters of the world that would be used to sanctify people:  Cornelius in the 1st century, you and me in the 20th century, and every Christian in every century.  In Baptism—in the washing with water and the anointing with chrism—the Holy Spirit descended upon us, not as dramatically as he did on Jesus, but effectively, turning us also into beloved children of God in whom the Father is well pleased, and empowering us, too, to go about doing good, to relieve the various forms of evil oppression wherever we encounter them, especially among the young.