Sunday 12th January 2025

BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST.

The gospel of today prompts and reminds us that we all share in the baptism of Our Lord

Jesus who at the River Jordan approached St. John the Baptist baptize him, John the Baptist

had for long prophesied his coming for that was the reason he was born the prepare for his coming was to prepare the word from which he used to prepare the way of the Messiah however, many people mistook him to be the long awaited messiah something he opened up fully to deny, “Tell us, are you the messiah, are you the one we have been waiting for," they asked him. John’s response was, “I baptize you with water but he who is coming after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit, he whose sandal straps I am not fit to untie." John knew that his work was surely coming to an end and that he had done his part of clearing and preparing the path for Jesus early mission of saving mankind to start.

Jesus approached John to be baptized something that John didn’t feel right to do however Jesus insisted so as to fulfill the scriptures. The moment Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened up and the thy Spirit descended upon Jesus inform of a dove and a voice was heard saying, "This is my son, with whom I am well pleased". This happens to be the first instant in the New Testament that Holy Trinity are all present and made known to us, the voice signifying God the Father, Jesus representing the son and the Dove signifying the Holy Spirit, this kick start the Divine work of Jesus on earth as the Messiah and the Savior.

Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan purified all waters and made it clean and till to date, we use water as a sign of purity, it is used in baptism and as a cleanser that removes the stain that we inherited from our fore parents Adam and Eve when were conceived in the wombs of our mothers, water is the most pure item on earth, just think of the power of Holy water once sprinkled on someone who has been possessed by unclean spirits, you hear them scream out loud for the water was blessed by Jesus during his baptism.

 BAPTISM OF AN INFANT 

At our baptism we receive the Holy Spirit the paraclete and the helper that Jesus promised the disciples as he ascended into heaven, the gift which they received on the day of the Pentecost when they had locked themselves in the upper room for fear of the Jews inform

of tongues of fire. That same Holy Spirit is the one who rids us of all fear and instills in us

the faith and confidence of preaching the word of the word with confidence, the same Spirit

that maker us cry out, “Abba Father".

During this Sunday of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we are urged to renew our

Baptismal promises and to always walk in the path of the Lord. We all know at Baptism

we are anointed with the chrism oil as Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet and Messiah, we all share in the Priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ who is our role model and one we should always look to imitate at all times.

JOHN THE BAPTIST BAPTIZING JESUS IN R. JORDAN.

The second reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah.

When we read or recall the second reading of today, the Prophet Isaiah calls upon us to prepare the way of the Lord, to make his paths straight, to lower and level the hills and to fill the valleys, a prophecy with which was fulfilled today in the Gospel.

What did the prophet Isaiah mean by this powerful teaching?

The plains and the valleys in our lives signify our sinful nature, our unworthy way of living that deters or prevents Christ from coming into our lives, these things like; prostitution, corruption, adultery, worship of false gods, human sacrifice, theft, immorality, fornication, divination, sorcery, murder, prostitution, lust, jealousy pornography, etc.) act as roadblocks in our lives, they block the path or way of the word into our lives for God does not share home with uncleanliness, the prophet Isaiah wants us to uproot and burn all these malicious vices from our lives so as to receive Christ in our lives. Look deep into your life and meditate thoroughly, what are the things in your life that you do that might be potential barriers or roadblocks in your life that would prevent or deter Christ from dwelling within you?

Well, that is food for thought, make sure you are always prepared to have Jesus dine with you today.

 ST. POPE JOHN PAUL II

 How do we make straight the paths of the Lord?

I would say this is quite challenging and requires a lot of sacrifice to straighten the way of the Lord into our lives for it requires us to do quite a lot of things that we might find so hard to do away with and it requires a certain habit or it pushes us to adopt some new ways of life that might be hard compared to the way of life our current generation in which they find true pleasure in.

The following are some of the ways I believe we can do or practice to allow Christ to walk freely and smoothly to dwell and dine with us.

* Attending Mass regularly;

To start with, we should make it an habit to attend Mass at least four times in a month but of course we should not settle for the bare minimum, for in almost all parishes today, daily masses are said, so I would suggest that one should attend as many Masses as they possibly can and not only attending but to fully concentrate while at Mass, to understand the true meaning and value of the Holy Mass for it is Calvary continued, Christ is sacrificed every time Mass is said. St. Padre Pio teaches us the true importance of Mass, he quotes, "It is easy for the earth to live with one Holy Mass than without the sun" Meditate on that quote by the mystic St. Padre Pio.

 THE HOLY MASS

* The Sacraments;

 THE HOLY EUCHARIST 

The second way we can make straight the path of the Lord in our lives is by receiving the sacraments most especially going for regular confession and the Holy Eucharist more often, by going regularly for confession, the devil losses grip of us, he becomes almost powerless over us for the more we confess, the more the Holy Spirit dwells in us and we all know that His dwelling in us makes us get immune to all darkness of the evil one and meanwhile, by going for or receiving the Holy communion more often we receive Jesus in His full Divine form in the form of bread and wine which is consecrated to become the true body and blood of our word Jesus Christ, in this way, we all have him dwelling within us.

   CONFESSION 

* Reading and listening to the scriptures;

The third way that we can employ to make straight his pathway in our lives is by reading and listening to the scriptures at least on a daily basis.

 The word of God is alive and ever making significant difference in our lives, by reading and listening to it daily, we allow God to speak and guide our way of living, the word of God makes us have an intimate relationship with Him. I will set out my word and they shall be healed," says the Lord. And another phrase from the Bible states that the word of the word sent from Heaven does not return back to Him without working. How often do you read and listen to the scriptures?

* Prayer;

The fourth way I believe we can employ to make the way of the Lord straight and smooth is prayer; In the Gospel, Jesus encourages his disciples to pray and he even took the effort of teaching them how to pray when he taught them the Lord’s prayer.

We also see him being transfigured when he went out to pray on the mountain and Simon Peter and some of the Apostles of Jesus who had gone with him saw a dazzling white light they had never seen, they saw Moses and Elijah conversing with Jesus, here Jesus was showing us that it is important to always pray and keep our relationship the Lord stronger.

 THE TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS

The last example we could use is the night Jesus arrested, he was praying is the Garden of Gethsemane, in many books we see pictures or images of Jesus leaning on the laps of an angel who God had sent to comfort him in his hour of great agony. He sets out and finds the apostles sleeping, he tells," couldn't you keep watch and pray a little longer so that you do not fall under test." Here Jesus reminds us that it is only through prayer that we can desist and overcome the temptations of the evil one.

 JESUS PRAYING IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ANGEL

* Living a Christian way of life;

The fifth way that I believe can help us make straight the pathway of the word in our lives is by carrying out what the Catholic church may call or summarize as the Corporal works of Mercy which may include, attending Mass, receiving Sacraments, paying tithe, almsgiving, visiting the sick and prisoners, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry and giving drink to those who thirst and burying the dead and some acts of Mercy which may not be in included in the Catechism of the Catholic Church but are right and can help us take Christ or share his life with others.

 We read from the gospels most especially one that gives us an insight on what the judgement day will look like, Jesus reminds us that he was once hungry, homeless, naked, sick thirsty and in prison and some tendered to him but others didn't, this is the point he tells others that he would go with them into his father's kingdom and sends the others who did not mind about helping him away for he does not know them. so as imitators of Christ, it is our duty to reach out to all who are in dire need of our assistance and taking Christ to them.

* Detaching ourselves off worldly pleasures;

 The sixth and probably the most challenging way we could employ to make straight and smooth the way of the Lord into our lives is by detaching ourselves from all the worldly pleasures and all that do not comply or all that is not compatible to the will of God. Why do I say it is probably the most challenging? 

Detaching ourselves from worldly pleasurers or all that do not comply to the will of the Lord means we become dead to the world and only desire for heavenly things, it means sacrificing all that the earth believes are the source of happiness and cutting ourselves off ungodly modernity and pleasures of this world.

In the world today, what people consider as sources of happiness may include, attaining an unthinkable amount of wealth through all possible means even if it means stealing or even sacrificing someone, through corruption, theft, murder, witchcraft, prostitution, fornication, alcoholism, homosexuality, pornography, transgender, devil worship, drugs, land grabbing, polygamy, denying people their rights or justice, whatever it takes to make one happy. 

 THE RICH MAN AND JESUS

And so, the challenge comes when you are told or required to cut yourself all these and instead work harder to attain eternity. We read from the story of the young man and Jesus, he had done and followed all the commandments of both his tradition and the church but found it difficult to detach himself from his wealth when Jesus told him that it would require him to sell all his property and give the money to the poor to achieve eternal life, this also applies to us all today, detaching ourselves from the current way of life and all that we have is a big challenge, and it feels like sacrificing our happiness for eternity that many believe might be a myth, they feel like leaving all these means they will never be happy and won't fit in the society. Look at Zacchaeus, the tax collector who returned back all the excess taxes he collected and even more just to allow Jesus in his life.

JESUS AND ZACCHAEUS 

Let us remember that what we perceive as happiness might not be what God perceives to be true happiness and this leaves us with this question, what are those things you are supposed to detach yourself from so as to allow Jesus Christ into your life? That is food for thought my brethren. 

* Imitating the life of the Saints;

The seventh and final way I believe could help us make the pathway of the Lord smooth and straight is by imitating the life of the saints. The saints were ordinary people who lived normal lives like most of us today but at some point of their lives encountered Christ or the Blessed Virgin Mary through apparitions or even through their Christian of way life.

In the church, there are many characters who were canonized basing on their way of life characterized by loving both Christ and mankind that they rendered their tender care to, they simply lived an extraordinary life by making Christ the centre of their lives and some even reached an extent of sacrificing their own life for the sake of Christ, many accepted even to leave behind their wealth or their own families to travel to an unknown destinations as Missionaries to spread the word of Christ to wherever they went. By imitating the life of the Saints, we see normal people like us serving God in particular ways and this acts as an example and pushes us to try and emulate their way of living.

 

    ST. PADRE PIO

By reading on the lives of great Saints like St. Padre Pio who normally got attacked by the devil lout still kept the faith firm in God reminds us that even through the greatest adversities, Christ should remain the focal point of our lives, we are reminded that nothing else matters apart from living for God alone.

St. Faustina of Kowalska through her Diary, “Divine Mercy in my soul” and her various experiences and apparitions of Jesus, Mary and the Saints reminds us that the more we dedicate our lives to Christ, the closer he is to us, through her messages of Divine Mercy revealed to her by Christ, we are reminded and encouraged that the Mercy of God has no boundaries and that every sinner is capable of receiving it as long as he approaches the Lord with a contrite heart, for the Lord the is rich in Compassion and Mercy.

May we strive and aim to clear all roadblocks and blockages preventing or hindering Christ from coming into our lives.