Today we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. First of all, it is important that we celebrate both his birthday (Christmas) and his baptism day (today), because baptism is our second birthday. My baptism day is May 3, and on that day I light my baptism candle that my parents gave me. If you don’t know your day, you can ask your parents, or ask the church where you received any of your sacraments, they should be able to tell you.

The Catechism says about baptism that “the two principal effects are purification from sins and new birth in the Holy Spirit” (CCC 1262).

The question is, why was Jesus baptized? He didn’t have any sins to be purified. He was already the Son of God. He already had the divine nature. He was already filled with the Holy Spirit. So what is going on?

John the Baptist himself has this question, and Jesus answers that “it is necessary to fulfill all righteousness.” When we talk about righteousness, we are talking about God’s plan of salvation, to rescue us from sin and death and bring us into his kingdom of heaven.

Jesus gets in line with the sinners who are being baptized by John. He wants to associate himself with sinners. “He who did not know sin, God made him sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). He enters into the waters of baptism to take our sins upon himself.

St. Ambrose says “our Lord was baptized because He wished, not to be cleansed, but to cleanse the waters, that, being purified by the flesh of Christ that knew no sin, they might have the virtue of baptism.” He enters into the waters of death, so that now they become life-giving. In the same way, he enters into the cross, so that it becomes now for us the source of our eternal salvation. Suffering and death lose their sting, so that St. Francis of Assisi can sing “Praised be you, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death.”

So let us listen today to the Lord’s majestic voice over the waters (Psalm 29), and let all of us in his temple cry: Glory!