The Baptism of the Lord

And the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

—Luke 3:22

A key to understanding the mystery of the Lord’s Baptism is the fact that it was not a necessary act. Jesus had no sin, original or actual. Even if he did John’s baptism did not have the power to forgive. This simple ritual did not yet have the fire of the Holy Spirit to make it effective. It was symbolic of repentance, but could not forgive sins as Christian baptism does. So why did Christ do it?

Jesus submitted to baptism in obedience to the Father, as the first public act of humiliation leading to the cross. He lowered himself to stand among sinners, to take his place with us. “Though he was in the form of God, (Jesus) did not regard equality with God something to be grasped” is how Paul puts it. He “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human appearance.” (Philippians 2:6-7) Jesus’ entire life, from the cradle, when he received the myrrh from the magi, through his baptism, the journey to Jerusalem, the Transfiguration to the institution of the Eucharist points to his death on the cross, the ultimate act of humiliation. This is why he is the beloved Son, because his love, expressed through obedience, was boundless.

As Salesians, lay and religious, we make many sacrifices. We know that religious forsake much, but lay Salesians must also do without in order to live their vocation to serve the young. There are other careers that pay more, are less stressful or may even garner us a bit of fame. Don Bosco could have used his abilities and talents in a very lucrative career within the Church. There were those who tried to talk him out of his mission to the young with visions of miters and red hats. Instead he emptied himself of these earthly ambitions in imitation of the Good Shepherd.

For Don Bosco it was a selfless act of freedom. We are called to that same radical choice. I’ve heard it argued that cafeteria duty, black top supervision and the building of rapport with students are unprofessional, beneath the dignity of an educator (this was not from a teacher at one of our schools, thank heaven). But we know that this is the farthest thing from the truth. True, we always go down to the kids level in order to bring them up, but first we must meet them down where they are! We are to always be professional, but never slaves to a worldly professionalism. We are to empty ourselves of pride and pretentiousness. So when we follow the Salesian call faithfully, in the big and small things that we do (even the things that seem a little goofy), we are truly following Christ on the road to Calvary. But ultimately we follow to the glory due beloved daughters and sons of the Father as well.