Feat of the Baptism of the Lord - Jan 12, 2014

Written by Fr. Fitz Friday, 10 January 2014 09:35

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Feast of the Baptism of The Lord, Jan. 12, 2014

In today's Gospel, Jesus is "in over his head."

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He is in the deep waters of the Jordan, being baptized by John the Baptist He goes into the depths where death lurks, only to come up and out to breath the life giving fresh air.

In our own baptisms, we follow him. If we die with him, we shall also rise with him.

Baptism does not take away our woundedness, but it does join us to the Body of Christ both in his dying and in his eventual rising.

And in the meantime he ultimately saves us from our wounds. He is our healer and our Savior.

So In the beautiful words of Isaiah in today's first reading:

"THE BRUISED REED, HE SHALL NOT BREAK, NOR THE SMOLDERING WICK, HE SHALL NOT QUENCH."

And the blind shall be given light to see.

In my own life, every four weeks I get a shot in my one good eye to prevent bleeding caused by macular degeneration. Without the shot, I would be blind. On my iPad I do tests which go into the doctor's office.

Friday the tests indicated I needed the eye shot earlier rather than later. So they called me to come in on Monday.

Monday morning put me in double jeperdy, because I misplaced my glasses, so not only did I receive the eye shot, I could not find my glasses!

My friend Maddie with young eyes came over on Tuesday to help me search, to no avail. Another friend asked, "Have you tried Saint Anthony?"

"Yes,, of course, I have been pestering him, but no response."

"Well, maybe he lost his own glasses!" She responded.

It seemed so after a couple hours of searching. So Tuesday night, Maddie's husband Joe came over to resume the search. He brought his flash light to shine under furniture. He searched for a few minutes and then went into my darkened bedroom. He went to the closet and moved the beam of light around til it landed on a shelf, and there was a sparkle!

There they were. I must have removed them when I took off a shirt and absent-mindedly put them up on the shelf where I had never laid them before.

Here is the paradox: What could not be found before in the light, was able to be found in the dark!

Is that also true for our spiritual lives as well.
Sometimes we have to pass through the dark on our way to being found and saved
I was in the dark, lost, and my friend Joe saved my glasses.

This week, reflecting on Baptism, Pope Francis reminded us that no one can baptize themselves. We always need another to pour the water.

In our woundedness, we need each other, just as I needed Joe to find my glasses.

So since we have each other in the Body of Christ, even when we are flickering wicks our light shall not be quenched.

We SHALL see!

Breakfast Question: What do I fail to see?
Personal Reflection: Who or what can help me to see?