Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
When a graft is made – from a sweet orange to a lemon tree, for example – a cut is made on the lemon tree, a small orange shoot is inserted in its place and then the cut is protected so that it can heal or prevent pests and diseases from entering the incision. After grafting, the lemon tree is ready to produce a new fruit: the orange.
The “grafting” of God’s grace
This is a beautiful image of the effects produced by Baptism, through water and the Holy Spirit. The creature, wounded by sin, receives the “graft” of God’s grace to produce divine fruit. Truly, a Christian is called to be another Christ!
In Isaiah’s song, the Lord says: “I have taken you by the hand and kept you” (42:6), clearly alluding to a new creation that would take place with the Redemption, in which the captives would be freed from the prison (cf. Is 42:7) of sin and death. The Psalm of today’s Liturgy, in turn, reminds us that this new creation is an invitation from God – for the “voice of the Lord is upon the waters” (28:3), a figure of Baptism – who overpowers the floods of justice and opens the heavens to the flood of mercy and forgiveness, with the coming of the awaited Messiah.
The story of Jesus and our story
When St. Luke begins his account of Jesus’ birth, he emphasizes that it was during the time of Caesar Augustus (cf. Lk 2:1) and that the Baptism performed by John took place in the fifteenth year of Tiberius’ empire, when Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod, Philip and Lysanias were tetrarchs, and Annas and Caiaphas were high priests (cf. Lk 3:1-2). It was necessary to record the moment when God entered our history with His Incarnation and birth, so that we could enter God’s history with Baptism.
In fact, through Baptism we receive a “divine graft” that heals the wound of original sin. On this day, the heavens open up for us, just as they did on the occasion of Jesus’ Baptism; the Holy Spirit, who descended on Him in the form of a dove, also descends on us; and the voice of the Father, who was heard acknowledging Jesus as the Son, can also recognize us as beloved daughters and sons of God (cf. Lk 3:21-22).
But pay attention! St. Peter, in summarizing what happened after the Baptism preached by John, says that Jesus “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). And do we, after our Baptism, try to align our biography with His? We have been given a new name; we are Christians! But where do we go and what do we do? We have received the divine graft; what fruit do we produce?
The solution to becoming other Christs lies in folding our hands in prayer and saying: “Hail holy Queen, Mother of Mercy”. And if we have gone astray, the Blessed Virgin Mary will obtain for us the grace of repentance, and will lead us on the road back to her Son Jesus. ◊
