Reflections
The Baptism of the Lord
This Sunday marks the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
In one of the best tributes to Fr. Richard John Neuhaus I’ve seen thus far, Sean quotes the following:
And thus it became luminously clear to me as I fitfully puzzled through these questions, lying there on the hospital bed: I have already died! My death is behind me! The question of what is to happen to me now is not a question about me, but a question about Christ. And that question has been answered. “Christ is raised from the dead never to die again; death has no more dominion over him.” Therefore death has no dominion over me. At some point “it” will happen. This body will be separated from this soul, and that is a great sadness. I was not expecting it so soon. I would have, all things considered, preferred to go on as I had been for many more years. But it did not really matter that much.
I’m writing as one who has seen his fair share of death in recent times. First, my grandfather died from prostate cancer in August of 2007; one year later to the very day, one of my best friends and college roommates lost his battle with liver cancer, at the age of 28; and finally, my mother in November, to lung cancer. She was 50.
Pretty heavy stuff for a kid who attended his first funeral a year and a half ago.
Of course, I’m able to take great comfort in Neuhaus’ reflection, especially as we approach such an awesome feast. Baptism is the moment where we die and rise again, incorporated into the Mystical Body whose head has defeated sin and death. His passing was a done deal for Fr. Neuhaus long ago, just as it is a thing of the past for all of us. And only with that in mind are we able to conclude that our pending death does “not really matter that much.”
It’s also significant that on Monday, we enter into ordinary time once again. Even within the context of the liturgical calendar, baptism marks an end and a beginning.
I pray that yours is a blessed one.
