BAPTISM OF THE LORD (C) : Sunday 9th January 2022

When Jesus was baptised, He was revealed as God’s beloved Son. St Paul tells Titus that Jesus is the revelation of God’s grace and the “salvation…for the whole human race” (v 11). This divine truth was undergirded when Jesus went on to “sacrifice Himself … to set us free from all wickedness” and “to purify” us so that we could be “His very own” (v 14). We are now cleansed by the “water of rebirth” and renewed “with the Holy Spirit” (v 5). Through this rebirth and renewal, we now stand before God, justified by God’s grace, to become heirs and heiresses “looking forward to inheriting eternal life” (v 7).

Could we have done anything to achieve salvation?  St Paul tells us that our salvation is the result of God’s grace (Vv 11, 7), kindness (v 4), love (v 4) and compassion (v 5). So, how should we respond? St Paul guides and encourages us “to give up everything that does not lead to God”; to give up “all our worldly ambitions”; to “be self-restrained and live good and religious lives here in this present world” (v 12), and to “have no ambition except to do good” (v 14).

Let us be faithful to our baptism and our calling as God’s children and as followers and disciples of Jesus Christ. Let us continue to listen to the voice of God’s Spirit; follow in Jesus’ path of service to humanity, and reflect the glory of God’s Kingdom even to the ends of the earth.

Heavenly Father, may we who share Jesus’ humanity come to share His divinity.