baptism of the Lord & iPhone

Isaiah 55:1-11; Ps you will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation; 1 John 5:1-9; Mark 1:7-11

The Christmas season as finally come to a close as we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord.

Today is also the day in which Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone.

Which has made a bigger impact on the history of humanity: the iPhone or the Baptism of the Lord.

The iPhone as certainly revolutionized the way we communicate. There have been 100 million iPhones sold. WHo would disagree with the fact that iPhone has certainly had a dramatic affect on our society.

In fact, I have an iPhone and on it i have the daily readings of the mass.

It is truly an ingenious development as far as communicating and staying connecting with family and friends.

So what of the Baptism of the Lord.

In order to understand the Baptism of the Lord we must first go back to the genealogy of Jesus according to Luke.

Luke traces Jesus' genealogy all the back to being the "son of Adam, son of God." Luke 3:38

As Pope Benedict points out, Luke "underscores the universal scope of JEsus' mission. HE is the son of Adam-the son of man. Because he is man, all of us belong to him and he to us; in him humanity starts anew and reaches its destiny."

A little more impacting on humanity then the iPhone.

The iPhone allows us to communicate with each other; JEsus comes to allows us to communicate with God himself.

The Baptism of the Lord marks the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. How does he begin his ministry by being baptized. Jesus marks his public ministry by blending into the gray mass of sinners waiting on the banks of the Jordan.

Jesus has no need to be baptized, he has no need for he knows no sin. Yet, in his humility he seeks to be completely one with those he will save. He inaugurates his public ministry by stepping into the place of sinners, already an anticipation of the cross.

Jesus identifies himself with us so there we now discover our identification with him.

We too are now sons of Adam, sons of God in Christ.

The words spoken from the heavens as Jesus rises from the waters ring true for us all, "You are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased."

Words spoken bu Pope Benedict in 2006 on the feast of the baptism of the Lord

“What happens in Baptism? What do we hope for from Baptism? You have given a response on the threshold of this Chapel: We hope for eternal life for our children. This is the purpose of Baptism. But how can it be obtained? How can Baptism offer eternal life? What is eternal life?

In simpler words, we might say: we hope for a good life, the true life, for these children of ours; and also for happiness in a future that is still unknown. We are unable to guarantee this gift for the entire span of the unknown future, so we turn to the Lord to obtain this gift from him.

We can give two replies to the question, "How will this happen?". This is the first one: through Baptism each child is inserted into a gathering of friends who never abandon him in life or in death because these companions are God's family, which in itself bears the promise of eternity.

This group of friends, this family of God, into which the child is now admitted, will always accompany him, even on days of suffering and in life's dark nights; it will give him consolation, comfort and light.

This companionship, this family, will give him words of eternal life, words of light in response to the great challenges of life, and will point out to him the right path to take. This group will also offer the child consolation and comfort, and God's love when death is at hand, in the dark valley of death. It will give him friendship, it will give him life. And these totally trustworthy companions will never disappear.

No one of us knows what will happen on our planet, on our European Continent, in the next 50, 60 or 70 years. But we can be sure of one thing: God's family will always be present and those who belong to this family will never be alone. They will always be able to fall back on the steadfast friendship of the One who is life.

And, thus, we have arrived at the second answer. This family of God, this gathering of friends is eternal, because it is communion with the One who conquered death and holds in his hand the keys of life. Belonging to this circle, to God's family, means being in communion with Christ, who is life and gives eternal love beyond death.

And if we can say that love and truth are sources of life, are life itself -- and a life without love is not life -- we can say that this companionship with the One who is truly life, with the One who is the Sacrament of life, will respond to your expectation, to your hope....”