Baptism of the Lord
Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
January 11, 2026
The Full Meaning of Christmas
As you know, the Church celebrates Christmas longer than everyone else. We don’t celebrate the Lord’s Birth only on Christmas, but for days on end. Indeed, the Birth of the Savior is a gift and mystery which the Church, like Mary, ponders in her heart. So, it is only today that that Church marks the end of the Christmas season with the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord in the River Jordan. This raises an obvious question: How is the Baptism of the Lord connected to his Birth? After all, Jesus was an adult when he was baptized, and was about to begin his public ministry of preaching & healing (cf. AA 10:38). Why, then, do we celebrate Jesus’ Baptism during the Christmas season?
The Radiance of Christ
To answer that, we have to ask what it is the Church celebrates at Christmas. Of course, the Church celebrates Christ’s Birth in the poverty of a stable. But the Church sees in this humble Birth the manifestation of divine glory – and connects the Birth of Christ to three other events, three “mysteries”, that manifest Jesus’ glory as the Son of God in the flesh.
The first of these is the Epiphany which we celebrated last Sunday. The Wise Men, guided by a star, encounter the glory of God shining on the face of the Christ. Jumping ahead, the third of these mysteries is the Wedding Feast of Cana, where Jesus manifested divine glory by performing the first of his miracles – changing water into wine just as one day he would change wine into his Blood. And that leaves us with today’s celebration, the Feast of his Baptism: As Christ is baptized in the Jordan, the Spirit of God hovers over him, and the Father’s voice is heard, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased!” Taken together, these three events reveal the Child born for us in Bethlehem as “the splendor of the Father” (cf. Heb 1:3).
Reflecting further on the mystery of the Lord’s Baptism, an ancient author states that, when Jesus descended into the waters of the Jordan, it was Fire descending into water, Light descending into darkness, a creature (John the Baptist) ministering to the Creator (the Son of God). By being baptized in water, Jesus imparted to the element of water the capacity to receive the Spirit, so as to impart to us eternal life in Baptism.
The Radiance of Baptism
On the day of our Baptism, we too were bathed in the radiance of God’s Triune life and love. Put another way, through Baptism God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – began to dwell in us. The same Holy Spirit who hovered over Jesus in the Jordan hovered over us, imparting to us gifts of grace and glory. In Baptism, we were inserted into the Death and Resurrection of Christ. With our sins forgiven, we became God’s beloved sons and daughters; the Father thus sees & loves in us what he sees & loves in his Son, Jesus Christ. Truly, in Baptism, we are “bathed in radiance”!
But what does it mean to say that we are “bathed in radiance”?…that we are immersed in the glory of the Most Holy Trinity? As we go through our daily routine with its ups and downs, how are we, like Jesus, to reflect the splendor of the Father?
Perhaps a comparison will help. When two people fall in love, we say they are aglow –there’s something about the look of a loving couple that shines. When someone is highly intelligent, we say that that person is “bright”. Or when someone, say a teacher, has learned the art of eliciting from others the best they have to offer – we call that person “an illuminator”.
Similarly, when we continue to purify our hearts of sin by prayer and penance, when we renew God’s life in us by the worthy celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the splendor of Baptism shines ever more brightly from within us. When we habitually encounter the Lord in the prayerful reading of Scripture, and thus fall more and more deeply in love with him, then the glow of divine love shines forth in our relationships with others. When we love ‘the invisible God whom we cannot see by loving our neighbor whom we can see’ – we become ‘God’s illuminators’ – bringing forth from those around us their own gifts of nature and grace. When the truth and beauty of the Faith has found a home in our hearts such that we profess our Faith with knowledge, love, and courage, then the light of Christ shines forth brightly in us. And yes, when we grow in virtue, our example becomes luminous and attracts others to the way of life we found in Baptism.
Wise and learned Christians tell us that the Church’s mission advances, not by coercion, but by attraction – less by persuasive argument and more by the persuasive power of love. In our struggle with our frail humanity, we are a work in progress, yet, when we are aglow with the beauty and love of the Christ, others will be attracted, not so much to us, as to the Lord who lives in us. As yet we may not have halos like the saints, but if we are both serious and joyful about being the Lord’s disciples – and great-hearted in our participation in his Church – we too will attract others to the Lord and to the Faith. For it will not be our light that shines, but Christ who shines in and through us. So, one last time, Merry Christmas! And may God bless us and keep us always in his love!