January 11, 2009, The Feast of the Lord’s Baptism

The waters of the River Jordan marked the “very edge” of the nation. Beyond them was pagan territory. Some at the time of Jesus believed that “blessing” ended at the Jordan, and beyond it was chaos and curse. Such a belief did not arise from prejudice so much as a conflict of values. When we think of the values of “the world,” we think of profit and power; when we think of the values of the “people of God,” we think of charity and selflessness. Do you see the conflict? The Jordan represented more than a “time zone change” does to us, today. It represented a change in loyalty, in identity, and in life’s goal and purpose. Jesus moved to the “very edge” of chaos to begin the inner healing of the nation, for it had, without realizing it, begun to absorb those very foreign values as its own. We meet Him waist-deep in the water, Divine Dove descending, as we watch the work of God commence, a work which will win back the sinners to make of them saints. Let us pray that that same Power which touched the lives of characters in the Gospel will touch us too, transforming our tendency to sloth and sinfulness into an impulse to sanctity.