Baptism

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan (Mark 1:9).

             When I was six days old, I was baptized at Holy Cross Parish in Oshawa, Ontario. It was at that moment I assumed my identity as a Roman Catholic. Since that time, I have tried to live out and better understand what that identity means. When I was young, my parents took me to Mass every Sunday. We ate fish instead of meat for supper on Fridays. I went to Holy Cross and John F. Kennedy Elementary Schools instead of the public school near our house. At university, I lived at the Newman Center at the edge of the campus of Queen’s University for two years. As time passed, I became more conscious of how my baptismal identity has made me similar to but also different from other people.

            In the text from Mark, Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. By doing so, he begins the process of establishing his identity as the one called to redeem sinful humanity.

            Since an account of this event is recorded in three of the Gospels, it is very likely to have happened. Yet, it raises an awkward question. If John’s Baptism indicated conversion from sin, why did Jesus, who as Son of God was sinless, receive it? In response to this dilemma, Matthew included the story of John trying to dissuade Jesus from being baptized for this reason. Perhaps Mark was attempting to convey the message Baptism was about more than being cleansed from sin. It included taking on a new identity. Jesus was about to start his earthly ministry. Its ultimate goal was the redemption of sinners. He would experience all the burdens of the human condition, including the effects of sin, without being touched by it. During his ministry, he would encounter oppression, corruption, illness, betrayal, suffering and death. The identity Jesus embraced at his Baptism indicated how he shared with all people experiences of the harm caused by sin but his immunity from it gave him the power to redeem them from it.

            As each of us continues on our faith journey, we pick up new dimensions of our identity. Yesterday, after getting my test results back, I found out my identity includes being a Covid 19 patient. While I have tested positive, I seem to be asymptomatic: I do not feel sick in any way. In fact, I feel exactly the same way I have felt for the past few months. I have been in self-isolation since January 1 when a woman to whom I gave Communion at Christmas told me she had tested positive for the virus. I am now staring at remaining in self-isolation for another ten days. When people ask how I feel I tell them I am bored out of my tree.

            This development makes me similar to some individuals (Covid 19 patients) and different from others (the rest of you). Yet, my particular situation makes me different from many Covid 19 patients. The virus has killed over 15,000 Canadians and caused immense suffering to a lot more. It feels a little awkward being placed in the same category as these people. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be a family member, friend or caregiver of one of them.

            What this development has indicated to me is how we are all in this pandemic together. We are more similar to each other than we realize. None of us lives in a bubble safely protected from what is going on around us. We are all fragile and vulnerable. Our lives could be changed fundamentally in a matter of hours. Death may not be an event which will occur in the far future. These realities make a lot of people uncomfortable. They have altered how individuals perceive me, talk about me and treat me since learning about my test result.

            Yet, how I respond to this situation will probably make me different from others. I must realize there are more important things to think about then my situation and rights. I have a duty to protect the people in my Rectory, Office and Parish. My Baptismal identity is a reminder that like Jesus I will experience the effects of sin: the symptoms I develop; the uncertainty about not knowing what will happen next; the confinement of remaining in my rooms; the inability to get things done; and the lack of knowledge about when life returns to normal. Each of these things I offer to God and trust that somehow, they are part of his plan.

            I draw some comfort from the fact that at his Baptism, Jesus expressed his solidarity with the human condition and me. He embraced the effects of sin and then destroyed its power when he died on the cross and redeemed me from it. Perhaps, one of the unexpected consequences of my getting Covid 19 is a better grasp of my Baptismal identity and that of Jesus.

January 10, 2021