Baptism is love

The Lord loves us so much that He came to be one among us. He could have come already as an adult, but He chose to be an infant of a loving family, like each one of us. Not only that. He chose to be poor, like many of us. And beyond all that, he was baptized by the Holy Spirit. This was what empowered him, from a human point of view, to reach out to all with loving mercy, compassion, and justice in the most humble and quiet ways.

This is what our First Reading for today tells us: “Thus says the Lord: . . . he shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street”      (Is. 42:1-2). Not only that, our divine-human God in the person of Jesus shows no partiality, as clarified in our Second Reading for today. In the words of Peter: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation, whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him . . . He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (Acts 10:34-35, 38). Lastly but not least, today’s Gospel reading emphasizes the Holy Spirit as descending upon Jesus in bodily form like a dove. And a voice from heaven was heard: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Lk.3:21-22).

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.  The Triune God. Three manifestations of the one and the same all-loving God of all creation. It is for this reason that today, the most universal way of experiencing and expressing God’s presence is through what we call creation-centered spirituality. An inner awareness of God’s loving presence in all of living creation.

We are still a long way off, with all the violence, wars, injustices and prejudices all around the world. These are the unconscious or conscious denials of God’s presence. But let us not lose hope and faith. Jesus was baptized as an adult, deeply and maturely conscious of its meaning for his love and service to the human community. His baptism as an adult was a sign of his role as a loving servant. Servant-leadership. It is the leader who serves, and not the one who is served. “But it shall not be among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt.20:26-28).

It is in this context that I want to focus on the reality that most if not all of us who have been baptized were baptized when we were still infants or young children. We were not yet maturely aware of the meaning and mission of being baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. Our parents and godparents assumed for us the meaning of baptism. It was their love for us that inspired them to have us baptized as infants or little children. Little did they know that this had no automatic effect in action when we became adults.

When we claim as adults that we are already baptized, it does not necessarily mean that we will then live and love as Jesus did. As adults, we definitely need a re-awakening and a re-commitment to the meaning of having been baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. Does this happen nowadays, in spite of the many others who are not able to live the true meaning of their baptism? Yes! There are numerous sons and daughters of God who are able to follow God’s law of love. In other words, they are able to live by their baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire.

I often look back to our God-led Edsa revolution of 1986. I now mention it again because of the recent death of the editor-in-chief of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc, an icon of the Edsa miracle. This is how our former President Fidel Ramos calls her. He was then chief of the Philippine Constabulary and acting chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He recalls: “During martial law Magsanoc was among the three women who were all in the media and who were very aggressive against the government” (PDI, Dec. 27, 2015). The same paper reports that before the revolution, Magsanoc was responsible for the Mr. and Mrs. Special Edition “that brought the Marcos conjugal dictatorship to its knees.” (Ibid.) All this is only a part of Magsanoc’s service to our country. The Lord’s baptism in action is indeed amazing.

I am sure you will agree with me that there are so many unknown heroes and heroines before, during, and after the Edsa revolution. Adult males and females who were and still are inspired by their baptism of the Holy Spirit. And for those, on the other hand, who feel that they lack such active baptismal grace, you still have time and opportunities for the remaining days, months, or years of your precious life.

One way of making this happen is through a guided retreat or prayer life that will awaken and strengthen our inner awareness of the Lord’s presence within us. This was the original meaning of our infant or early baptism. But it can make all the difference for us who are now adults. We can truly become fearless lovers of God and the human community, wherever we are and whatever we are tasked to accomplish!