Dear brothers and sisters!
The words that the evangelist Mark reports to the beginning of his Gospel: ′′ You are my Son, the Beloved: in you I have placed my satisfaction ′′ (1,11) introduce us into the heart of today's Lord's Christening Feast, with which Christmas time comes to a close. The cycle of Christmas solemnities makes us meditate on the birth of Jesus announced by the angels surrounded by God's bright splendor; Christmas time speaks to us about the star that guides the Magi from the East to the House of Bethlehem, and invites us to look at the sky that is opens on the Jordan while the voice of God resonates. They're all signs that the Lord doesn't get tired of repeating to us: ′′ Yes, I'm here. I know you guys. I love you guys. There's a road that comes from me to you. And there is a road that rises to me from you ". The Creator assumed in Jesus the size of a child, a human being like us, so that he could be seen and touched. At the same time, with this being small, God has shone the light of his greatness. Because, precisely by lowering himself to the helpless helplessness of love, he proves what true greatness is, indeed, what it means to be God.
The meaning of Christmas, and more generally the sense of the liturgical year, is precisely to bring us closer to these divine signs, to recognize them imprinted in everyday events, so that our heart opens to the love of God. And if Christmas and Epiphany are especially useful to make us able to see, to open our eyes and heart to the mystery of a God that comes to stay with us, Jesu s' Christening Feast introduces us, we could say, to the everyday life of a personal relationship with Him. Indeed, through immersion in Jordan's waters, Jesus joined us. Baptism is so to speak the bridge that He built between Him and us, the way for which He makes Himself accessible to us; it is the divine rainbow over our lives, the promise of God's great yes, the doorway of hope and, At the same time, the sign that shows us the path to walk in an active and joyful way to meet and feel loved by Him.
Dear friends, I'm really happy that this year too, on this holiday day, I've given myself the opportunity to baptize children. On them today is God's ′′ pleasing Since the Father's unborn son got baptized, heaven is truly open and open, and we can entrust every new life that blooms to the hands of Him who is more powerful than the dark powers of evil. This actually entails baptism: let's give back to God what came from Him. The child is not the property of the parents, but is entrusted by the Creator to their responsibility, freely and always new, so that they may help him to be a free child of God. Only if parents mature such awareness can they find the right balance between pretending to be able to dispose of their children as if they were a private possession by shaping them based on their own ideas and desires, and the libertarian attitude expressed in letting them grow in full autonomy satisfying their every desire and aspiration, believing this to be a right way of cultivating their personality. If, with this sacrament, the neo-baptized becomes a foster child of God, the object of his infinite love that protects him and defends him from the dark forces of the evil one, we need to teach him to recognize God as his Father and to know how to deal with him with son's attitude .. And therefore, when, according to the Christian tradition as we do today, children are baptized by introducing them into the light of God and his teachings, violence is not done to them, but they are given the richness of the divine life in which the true freedom is rooted in It belongs to God's children; a freedom that will have to be educated and trained with the mature of years, so that it becomes capable of responsible personal choices.
Dear parents, dear godparents and godparents, I greet you all with love and join your joy for these little ones who are born again to eternal life today. Be aware of the gift received and don't cease to thank the Lord who, with today's sacrament, introduces your children into a new family, bigger and more stable, more open and numerous than yours: I am referring to the family of believers , at the Church, a family that has God for Father and in which everyone recognizes each other brothers in Jesus Christ. So today you entrust your children to the goodness of God, which is power of light and of love; and they, despite the difficulties of life, will never feel abandoned if they stand united to Him. Therefore, worry about educating them in faith, teaching them to pray and grow as Jesus did and with his help, ′′ in knowledge, age and grace before God and men ′′ (cf Lc 2,52).
Now back to the evangelical song, let's try to understand even more what is happening here today. Narra San Marco who, as John the Baptist preaches on the banks of the river Jordan, proclaiming the urgency of the conversion in view of the coming coming of the Messiah, behold Jesus, confused among the people, presents himself to be baptized. John's is certainly a penance baptism, quite different from the sacrament that will establish Jesus. At that moment, however, we already see the Redeemer's mission, because when he comes out of the water, a voice resonates from heaven and the Holy Spirit descends upon him (cf Mc 1,10): The Heavenly Father proclaims him his favorite son and not publicly attests to the universal salvific mission, which will be fully accomplished with his cross death and resurrection. Only then, with the Easter sacrifice, will the remission of sins be universal and total. With Baptism we don't then simply immerse ourselves in the waters of the Jordan to proclaim our commitment to conversion, but the redeeming blood of the Christ that cleanses and saves us. It is the beloved Son of the Father, in whom He has placed His pleasure, that regains us the dignity and joy of calling us and truly being God's ′′ children
Soon we'll relive this mystery evoked by today's solemnity; the signs and symbols of the Baptism sacrament will help us understand what the Lord works in the hearts of these little ones, making them ′′ His ′′ forever, abode of His Spirit and ′′ live stones ′′ for the construction of the spiritual building that is the Church. Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, the beloved Son of God, watch over them and their families, always accompany them, so that they can carry out the project of salvation that Christening takes place in their lives. And we, dear brothers and sisters, accompany them with our prayer; we pray for parents, godparents and godmothers and their relatives, to help them grow in faith; we pray for all of us here present that, devotedly participating in this one celebration, let's renew the promises of our baptism and thank the Lord for his constant assistance. Amen! (Benedict XVI, Homily January 11, 2009)
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