Here we are at the beginning of a new year. So, I suppose the question I could ask is: How many of your New Year’s Resolutions have you already broken? On the other hand, you may be among those who do not need to make any resolutions for the new year. Perhaps, you have nothing which needs to be changed. And if you believe you are in this group, you may want to ask your spouse or your friends (or even your kids) if they agree to just how perfect you are now.
However, the majority of us, I believe, would say we’re not in that group. Most of us would probably admit there is something we need to change about ourselves. Some of us might even have the problem of being too hard on ourselves. We might believe there is very little we like about ourselves, just about everything needs to be changed. We might feel we are not worthy about anything. Today’s readings deal with this basic question. The question about being worthy. The question: am I “good enough?”
Our first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah talks about a person who doesn’t sound very worthy about anything. Here we have someone who apparently doesn’t have the strength to finish breaking a stick that has already been bent out of shape. Someone who cannot finish blowing out a candle with a wick that is already merely a smoking ash. And yet, Isaiah reminds us that this one who appears to be so inconsequential will, in fact, establish justice on the earth.
In our second reading from the Acts of the Apostles we hear Peter’s words to Cornelius and his family. You may recall Cornelius was a Roman centurion, a military man of some might and means, who lived with his extended household in Caesarea. Here was Peter visiting the home of a non-Jew who did not follow the dietary laws of the Jews nor any other of their practices. On the surface, Cornelius and his family were unlikely candidates for this new, Christian, religion. Yet, Peter was able to proclaim, “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.” Centurion Cornelius and his family were seen to be worthy to become followers of Christ.
In our Gospel reading we hear how John the Baptist, himself, questioned whether he was good enough, worthy enough to baptize Jesus. John thought Jesus should be baptizing him. However, Jesus reminded John that what must be done to fulfill God’s will, must, indeed, be done. It is God who sees John is worthy enough to accomplish what God wants accomplished.
And what about us? Are we worthy to accomplish what God wants each one of us to accomplish? Yes, there are times when I believe I’m not good enough, worthy enough to do what I know God is calling me to do. And when these times occur I remember that I am worthy, not because of what I’ve done in the past, but, rather, because of what God has done for me.
I remember we all become worthy because of our baptism. We become worthy through the waters of baptism. We become worthy through the anointing with the oils of baptism. At every baptism we are reminded that we are anointed: priest, prophet and king. Here on this first Sunday of the New Year, when we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord, we are called to remember just what it means to be anointed as priest, prophet and king.
What does it mean to be anointed as a “king?” We know ancient kings were anointed with oil as a symbol of their power and new royalty. But what was to be the outcome of this power, this proclamation of being royalty? The first demand placed upon the king was to be the protector of his people. To protect them from outside invasions. To protect them from hunger and famine. To see to their general welfare. And yes, there were kings who failed. Those who did not see to the protection of their people. Those who mistreated their people. Those who did not show justice and mercy to those put under their care and trust. Yet a rue king was anointed as the Protector of his people.
And through our baptism we, too, are called to be a Protector for all who are under our care and trust. We are to protect them from attacks by those who try to render them powerless. We are to help them gain the basic needs for life, itself. By our baptism we are anointed as the protector of the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized.
We are also anointed as a prophet. Prophets were called by God to speak on his behalf. They were to remind all those who heard the prophet, all those who witnessed his actions. And of what did they remind the people? Prophets reminded them about what God desired of them. These prophets reminded their people about the covenant God had made with them and their ancestors. A covenant of unconditional love. A covenant which stated Yahweh would be their one and only God and they would be his people. A covenant which included the obligation to love one another as well as to listen to his Word. Prophets were anointed to be the memory of the love of God and to bring this memory of his love to a new life for his people.
And through our baptism, we, too, are anointed as Prophets to accomplish the same task, to remind others of God’s unconditional love for us and our unconditional love for God and for others. We are anointed as prophets to make God’s love manifest in this world, to show forth God’s love for us through our own love for one another.
As we are anointed as Protector and Prophet through our baptism, we are also anointed as Priest. What is the nature of being a priest? A priest is one called to be set aside, to no longer be part of a secular, routine life. And yet, at the same moment, a priest is one who is called to act in the world for the people of the world. One who lives in a daily acknowledgment that the reign of God has already begun. A priest is one who blesses others and calls for God to bless us. He is the one who takes common bread and wine and, through his prayers and blessings, he asks the Holy Spirt to change these common materials into the divine body and blood of Christ.
We too, through our baptism are anointed as priests to act in this world on behalf of God. We are to recognize we, too, are called forth from a merely secular world in order to act on God’s behalf in helping others to go beyond the daily world which consumes us. We are to pray not only for ourselves but more important, for others. Each day, we are to take the common elements of our lives and through prayer and the help of the Holy Spirit change these mundane actions into holy events.
Each one of us, through our sacrament of baptism, has been anointed Priest, Prophet and Protector. Through our baptism, each one of us was, indeed, made “good enough” to become a priest, prophet and protector. Following the words of the prophet Isaiah,
● Each one of us is called to open the eyes of the blind … the blind who do not see the beauty of God surrounding them.
● Each one of us is called to bring out prisoners from confinement … prisoners confined by chains of injustice and poverty
● Each one of us is called to free from the dungeon those who live in darkness … the darkness of despair and lack of hope.
When John baptized Jesus some two thousand years ago, a voice from heaven was heard. Today, as we begin a New Year with resolutions to change our lives, with resolutions to live out our Baptismal call of being anointed as priest, prophet, and king, may each one of us hear similar words: “This is my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased.”
Baptism of the Lord; January 13, 2008
Is 42: 1-4, 6-7; Acts 10:34-38; Mt 3:13-17