Homily for the Baptism of the Lord January 12, 2025

There once was an important football game between two rivals. One team was much bigger than the other. The larger team was dominating the game and beating the smaller team. The coach for the smaller team saw that his team was not able to contain or block the larger team. So his only hope was to call the plays that went to Calhoun, the fastest back in the area, who could easily outrun the larger players once he broke free.

The coach talked to his quarterback about giving the ball to Calhoun and letting him run with it. The first play the coach was excited, but Calhoun did not get the ball. The second play was again signaled for Calhoun, but once again Calhoun did not get the ball. Now the game was in the final seconds with the smaller team’s only hope being for Calhoun to break free and score the winning touchdown. The third play and again Calhoun did not get the ball. The coach was very upset so he sent in the play again for the fourth and final play. The ball was snapped and the quarterback was sacked, ending the game. The coach was furious as he confronted the quarterback: “I told you four time to give the ball to Calhoun and now we’ve lost the game.”

The quarterback told the coach, “Four times I called the play to give the ball to Calhoun. The problem was that Calhoun didn’t want the ball.”

Today, as we celebrate this unique event, the baptism of Jesus, I thought it would be good for us to reflect on our baptism. Now, it all began with Jesus’ final instruction to his disciples: “Go out to all the world and share the good news, baptizing people in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

And for 2,000 years now, the Church has done that. Our official entrance into the Church is marked by our baptism. As in every Sacrament, there is a visible aspect and an invisible one. In baptism we use water, which has a rich and primal meaning to it. Without water, we would surely die; and without water, we wouldn’t be very clean. That’s the visible part. What it symbolizes, the part we cannot see, is that we are being given the gift of life, not just for here and now, bur for eternity. We are being baptized into the dying and rising of Jesus, going down into the tomb with him (symbolized by his going into the Jordan river), and then rising with him from the tomb (out of the Jordan’s waters). And, we are being spiritually cleansed of the effects of sin, the spiritual smog of our world, so that we can live a new life in God.

So that’s what happens to us—only once. Once we’ve been properly baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, that’s it. When someone, for instance, has been baptized in the name of the Trinity as a Protestant, if that person wishes to become a Catholic, we do not rebaptize.

But here’s the thing: does our being baptized make a difference for how we live? Using the imagery of our opening story, in baptism God gives us the football. The question then is, do we want to run with it? Do we take up the Christian faith in such a way that we are changed, each and every day, to become more like Christ? If we have the opportunity to help somebody, do we run with it? Do we do something? If someone asks for forgiveness, or if we need to ask for forgiveness, do we actually do something? If we’ve been angry at someone, whether it’s been a day or fifty years, do we try to be reconciled? Do we take the ball and run with it?

What are we doing to actualize our baptism? In the early days of the Church, outsiders could point at Christians and marvel, “See how they love one another.” Can they say that about us? Is our baptism something that is lived, that is struggled with, that is taken seriously, or are we Christian in name only?

So, here’s the question to think about: When God wants to hand us the ball, do we run with it?