Baptism: for Jesus, it was LESS than it appeared to be; for us, it was MORE than it appeared to be

(Baptism of the Lord (A): This homily was given on January 11, 2026 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Matthew 3:13-17.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Baptism of the Lord 2026]

 

For Jesus, it was less than it appeared to be; for us, it was more than it appeared to be.  I’m talking here about baptism: Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, and our baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

When Jesus arrived at the Jordan and presented himself to his cousin, John, he appeared to be a sinner.  St. Luke tells us that John the Baptist “went throughout [the] whole region of Judea, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”  The whole purpose for receiving John’s baptism was to acknowledge that you were a sinner, and to seek God’s mercy and pardon.

But Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, never sinned!  He had no need of the heavenly Father’s forgiveness, like the rest of us do.  Although he appeared to need it.

Perhaps it also appeared to some of the bystanders who witnessed this event that John was greater than Jesus, since John was the person who baptized our Lord.  But, of course, he wasn’t (as he himself acknowledged in the gospel reading we just heard).   John knew the truth, and so he said, “I should be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?”

At the Jordan Jesus appeared to be a sinner, but he wasn’t; he appeared to be someone less important than John the Baptist, but he wasn’t. In reality, he was much more important!  After all, he had created John—and everyone else who was there that day.

So why did he get baptized?

John, in effect, asks Jesus that question here, and our Lord responds by saying, “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

There’s a footnote in the New American Bible which explains that response very well.  It reads, “To fulfill all righteousness is to submit to the plan of God for the salvation of the human race.  This involves Jesus’ identification with sinners; hence the propriety of accepting John’s baptism.”

To save us, in other words, Jesus had to take our sins upon himself.  But in order to take our sins upon himself he needed to look like a sinner, even though he wasn’t.

And he did!  He certainly looked like a sinner on Good Friday as he hung on the cross.  But that identification with sinners was also present in his 3-year ministry (remember, his enemies called him “a glutton” and “a drunkard” and a lot of other not-so-nice things!).

And that identification with sinners was present at his baptism.

Jesus’ baptism was an act of humility and love.  It did not bring him any forgiveness—which is why I say it was less than it appeared to be.

Now that’s the exact opposite of the way it was for you and for me!  Our baptism—whether it occurred in infancy or in adulthood—was more than it appeared to be!  If you’ve been to a baptism recently, you know that it’s a very simple and I would say “visually-unspectacular” event!  One person—usually a member of the clergy—pours water 3 times over another person’s forehead (or dunks the person 3 times in a pool of water), and says a very short sentence: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

What’s so special about that?  Aside from being a good excuse to have a family party on a Sunday afternoon, the ceremony of Catholic baptism appears to be little more than a nice, ordinary, very brief religious ritual.

But in reality it’s a ritual that’s packed with power!  Literally!

If you’ve been unaware of this up until now don’t be too upset: apparently even many of the earliest Christians failed to appreciate the power of this sacrament.  St. Paul wrote to some them in Romans 6 when he said:

Are you unaware [apparently some were] that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.

For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.

The effects of baptism are many:

• Through baptism we are born again of water and the Spirit—which Jesus says in John 3 we MUST BE in order to enter the kingdom of God at the end of our earthly lives.
• Through baptism original sin is taken away.  Original sin, remember, is not like the personal sins we commit every day.  When we say we are born with original sin we are saying that we’re born into this world lacking sanctifying grace in our soul.  Sanctifying grace is the grace Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to give us; it’s the grace that we need in our soul in order to get into the kingdom of heaven.
• Through baptism all our personal sins are also forgiven (this obviously applies to those who are baptized later in life)—and all the temporal punishment due to those sins is taken away.
• As it says in paragraph 1265 of the Catechism, “Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte ‘a new creature,’ an adopted son of God, who has become a ‘partaker of the divine nature,’ member of Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit.”
• Baptism also makes us a member of the Church; it imprints an indelible spiritual mark on our soul; it gives us a share in the royal priesthood of Jesus Christ; and it opens us to the possibility of receiving the other sacraments.

Not bad for a nice, ordinary, very brief religious ritual!  This, by the way, is why a priest will sometimes delay the baptism of an infant.  It’s because baptism is so powerful and so important!  It’s not to be taken lightly! 

But sometimes, unfortunately, it is.  In this regard, paragraph 1270 of the Catechism says the following: 

Reborn as sons of God, [the baptized] must profess before men the faith they have received from God through the Church and participate in the apostolic and missionary activity of the People of God.

In other words, the baptized person needs to live the Catholic Faith that they profess (when they’re old enough to do so).  But if the priest has a good reason to believe that a particular child will not be educated and brought up in the Catholic Faith, he can—and he should—delay the sacrament. 

The official policy of the Church on the matter is found in a 1980 document entitled, “Instruction on Infant Baptism.”  It was prepared by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and was approved by Pope John Paul II.  In section 28 of that document it says this:

Assurances must be given that the gift [the gift of sanctifying grace] thus granted can grow by an authentic education in the faith and Christian life, in order to fulfill the true meaning of the sacrament.   As a rule, these assurances are to be given by the parents or close relatives, although various substitutions are possible within the Christian community.  But if these assurances are not really serious there can be grounds for delaying the sacrament; and if they are certainly non-existent the sacrament should even be refused.

Of course, when those responsible for the child’s upbringing change and do give those assurances by their words—and, even more importantly, by their actions!—then the baptism can (and should!) take place.

I’ll end my homily now the way I began it, by reminding you once again of those two important truths: the baptism of Jesus was less than it appeared to be, while our baptism was more than it appeared to be.

Because Jesus’ baptism was less than it appeared to be, he can save us; and because our baptism was more than appeared to be, we can be saved.

Obviously, therefore, we should thank God for BOTH those truths—today and every day.

  

Following in the Footsteps of the Wise Men

 

(Epiphany 2026: This homily was given on January 4, 2026 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72; Ephesians 3:2-6; Matthew 2:1-12.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Epiphany 2026]

These three questions will test how well you were paying attention to the Gospel text I just read to you.  I gave this test several years ago on Epiphany Sunday.  Perhaps a few of you will remember it.

According to the details given to us in this passage from Matthew, chapter 2:

1.    There were three wise men.  True or False?

2.    The wise men were kings.  True or False?

3.    The names of the wise men were Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar.  True or False?

The correct answers, believe it or not, are false, false and false again.  Matthew does not tell us the exact number of astrologers who came to offer homage and gifts to the infant Christ.  The tradition that there were three comes from the fact that three gifts were offered to the Lord: gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Nor does Matthew ever tell us that they were kings!  That tradition comes from the prophecy of Isaiah 60 (which we heard in our first reading) and Psalm 72 (which was today's responsorial psalm).  From early on, Christians saw a foreshadowing of the Epiphany event in these two passages from the Old Testament.  And as for their names being Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar—that idea is rooted in a tradition that goes back at least to the sixth century.  But it was not a part of Matthew's description of the Magi as found in his Gospel.  Now please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there were not three Magi; I'm not saying they were not kings, and I'm not saying their names were not Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar.  I'm simply saying those details come to us from other sources—not from the Gospel of Matthew itself.

If, perchance, you didn't do too well with those three questions, I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself with two others:

1.    The Magi were Gentiles.  True or false?

2.    The Magi submitted themselves to Jesus.  True or false?

In this case, the correct answers are true, and true.  And here we see why Matthew made the decision to include this particular story in his account of the life of Christ.  He included it to teach a very important lesson to his community (and, by extension, to all of us).  The Magi were Gentiles like most (if not all) of us are.  Why is that important?  It's important because the prevailing mindset among the Jews was that only they were special to the Lord.  And so by telling us about these non-Jewish astrologers who came to see Jesus at his birth, Matthew is telling us that everyone, without exception, is included in God's plan of salvation.  This was also St. Paul's message to the Ephesians in that text we heard in our second reading today.  Listen again to his words (this definitely would have shocked many of the Jews of Paul's day):

God's secret plan, as I have briefly described it, was revealed to me, unknown to men in former ages but now revealed by the Spirit to the holy apostles and prophets.  It is no less than this: in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are now co-heirs with the Jews, members of the same body and sharers of the promise through the preaching of the gospel. 

(That’s a slightly different translation from the one we heard a few minutes ago, but I like it better.  It’s a lot clearer.)

Many of the Jewish men and women who first heard those words must have gasped in disbelief!—"You mean those unclean, vile, heathen Gentiles have the same spiritual potential as we do?!"

Yes, they do—thank God!

But there's another crucial fact to note about these men from the East: they submitted themselves to Jesus!  St. Matthew says that when they came into the Lord's presence, "They prostrated themselves and did him homage."  In this regard, have you ever noticed that in almost every crèche scene, at least one of the wise men is portrayed on his knees?  (Look at ours before you leave Mass today.)  And the other two are usually hunched over, as if they're preparing to kneel and prostrate themselves before the Savior.  Despite the fact that they might have been kings, the Magi came to the Lord in submission and in humility.

And that's how we must come to Jesus if we want to experience the fruits of his redemptive work.  Thus, if the Magi were standing here at this pulpit this morning, they would say to us: "Yes, everyone is included in God's plan of salvation--Jew and Gentile alike.  That means that every person can be saved.  But, regardless of who you are, you must be willing to bend your knee to Jesus like we did.  If you want to experience the gift of salvation that he came into the world to bring, you must follow our example and be willing to submit to him in humility and in repentance.  Otherwise you cannot be included in his kingdom."  That, of course, is a very difficult message for some modern-day Christians to accept: Christians who think that pretty much everybody goes to heaven, even if they never repent of their sins!  The Magi would disagree strongly!

A while back I heard the confession of a man who had not received the sacrament of Reconciliation in almost 20 years.  Without revealing any of the details, suffice it to say that this person made a great confession.  He had a lot to unload—and (as far as I could tell) he unloaded it all!  He was what St. John Vianney would have called "a big fish"—a big catch for the Lord.  Although he probably didn't realize it at the time, that man came into the confessional and did exactly what the Magi did in the cave of Bethlehem 2,000 years ago: spiritually speaking, he prostrated himself before Jesus, by humbly asking for his Savior's forgiveness.  And so it should come as no surprise that he left the confessional that day a “wise man”—a wise man filled with joy and gratitude.

May all of us in our lives learn to be equally wise. 

 

Why We Begin Every Year with Mary

 

(Mary, the Mother of God 2026: This homily was given on January 1, 2026 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Numbers 6:22-27; Psalm 67:2-8; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21.) 

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Mary the Mother of God 2026]

We begin this year—we begin EVERY year—with Mary, our Blessed Mother.

I don’t think that’s a coincidence.  I think the Holy Spirit, working through the Church, has us honor our Lady every January 1 for a reason.  I think the Holy Spirit has us honor our Lady every New Year’s Day because Mary reminds us of certain truths—certain ideas—that should guide us throughout the year.

For example, Mary reminds us that our intention each and every day of each and every year should be to do the perfect and holy will of God.  “Be it done unto me according to your word” was not only Mary’s response to the Lord at the Annunciation; it was her response to the Lord at every single moment of her earthly life!  That’s why we honor her above all the other saints.

If we’re going to do God’s will faithfully in our lives, then we, like Mary, need to be seeking holiness more than anything else.  That’s something else our Lady reminds us of.  Of course, since none of us is perfect in this regard, we need to make a habit of going to confession on a regular basis.  We can’t grow in holiness if we’re not seeking forgiveness for our sins regularly—at least every couple of months or so.

Mary also reminds us of the importance of prayer—and of reflecting on our lives when we pray.  In today’s gospel, St. Luke tells us that our Blessed Mother “kept all these things and reflected on them in her heart.”  These “things” were the events surrounding our Lord’s birth.  Mary prayed about these events, asking the Father to help her understand his salvific plan and how she fit into it.

Mary also reminds us that suffering is a part of life—even if you’re the greatest of saints; even if you’re the holiest human person who ever lived on planet earth.  Mary, as we all know, was perfect—she was without sin—and yet, a “sword” of suffering pierced her soul during the passion and death of her Son, just as Simeon had predicted it would.  Her moral perfection did not mean she was exempt from trial.

So obviously we should not expect to have a pain-free life in 2026 or in any other year!  Mary certainly didn’t expect that for herself.  But we SHOULD expect God’s grace to help us deal with our pain and suffering, as his grace helped Mary deal with hers.  No doubt Mary sought that grace as she prayerfully reflected on the events of her life—especially the events surrounding our Lord’s birth and death. 

In her popular song, “Breath of Heaven,” Amy Grant puts some beautiful words on the lips of our Blessed Mother that make this point.  The words are the words of a prayer for strength and help: a prayer from Mary to the Holy Spirit:

Breath of heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of heaven
Breath of heaven
light in my darkness
Pour over me your holiness
For you are holy

These are just a few of the reasons why it is good—and why it is fitting—for us to begin every year with Mary.  She teaches us, by her words and example, how to approach the next 365 days.  She teaches us to make every effort to do the will of God.  She teaches us to seek holiness and to go to confession regularly.  She teaches us to pray daily, to reflect on the events of our lives, and to seek the Lord’s help confidently in the midst of our sufferings and trials.  Of course, ultimately the Church has us begin each year with Mary so that someday we will END with Mary—so that someday we will end our lives with her, in that Kingdom that Jesus Christ her Son died and rose from the dead to give to her and to give to all of us.