St. Bernadette Catholic Church

Once upon a time the angel of the Lord appeared to a King and to a peasant. To the King, the angel said, 'God wishes to grant you a sign of His presence. What is it you would like.' The King replied, 'I am a powerful King with much wealth and land, let me see then God's power in all His glory.' God then sent a bolt lightning that struck the King's castle and burnt him up, his family, and all his court.

The angel then went to the peasant and offered the same to him. The peasant thought a moment and replied, 'I am a simple man who has strived to live a good life and I have no desire to ask for more. Help me to see God's presence in my family and friends, in the land I till, in the beauty of the sunrise and sunset, and in all things.' His wish was granted and the peasant lived a long, happy life.

In Matthew's gospel, Jesus is the new Moses bringing the new covenant. The beattitudes are a new sort of ten commandments. But whereas the ten commandments were about proper conduct and commands, Jesus' beattitudes are about the qualities of a state of life and blessings that come to those who live that life. It's much like the peasant in the story. When we live truly in the Spirit of God - true righteousness - we will live prayerfully, humbly, gently, become a peacemaker, and be concerned with all the things that God is concerned about and we will be blessed immensely for it.

Sometimes our need to be right overwhelms our obligation to love. Paul in today's reading from Corinthians expounds upon this state of things, an apparent problem in the Corinthian community. Those in the community were so occupied with who was right or who had more prestige that they were losing touch with their Christian belief and mission. Paul gently reminds them about the cross. The cross of Christ proclaims that the only thing right and proper of the Christian is the act of sacrificial love. The cross is the pattern of our Christian lives.

We probably don't have to look far to see the dynamic of the "rightness" game happening in our lives, just ask your wife or husband or work mate. The need to be right is a natural thing that flows from our egos and pride. Whereas, the act of sacrificial love flows unnaturally or should we say supernaturally from our hearts through the gift of grace. When we embrace Christ, embrace His cross, our need to be right seems almost silly and useless while our desire to love abounds.

We are now about two weeks into the new year and it's about this time that the new year resolutions are sorted out. Those that we made in earnest are still with us. Those that were just good thoughts are a now more than likely a guilty memory. But such is the way with resolutions and the weakness of human nature.

We can draw parallels to this in today's gospel reading. John declares that he bapitizes only with water. John is admitting that his effectiveness resides and is limited by human nature and power. Essentially, it is like us making new year resolutions. Sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't take root. But with Jesus, it is different because He baptizes with the Spirit of God, the power of God. The change that comes about by this sort of baptism transforms the very heart of a person and brings on a power that rocks the world. In Jesus, John's baptism is perfected. We still need to make the resolution or resolve to live differently, but its success does not rely on our power but the power that comes from the Holy Spirit who transforms us and though us transforms our world.

For many of us who were baptized as babies, when the religious talk turns to the power of baptism and the transformation that is spoken of, we might be left scratching our heads a bit. Afterall, we never really had a before and after experience of baptism. But even those who have had an adult experience of baptism are challenged by the notion that are lives are radically transformed by this sacrament. We can be left with the feeling and thought, "OK, when does it happen?"

Our gospel reading this Sunday gives us clues of what to expect and what kind of power is to be given us. The hints come in the word "righteousness" and in the image of a dove. Righteousness unfortunately is a much maligned word. Too often it has been taken over by those who give it the appeal of "rightness" - I'm right to believe this way and you are wrong if you don't. Righteousness in its true biblical sense is acting in the spirit of God, acting in faith, and we see from the life of Jesus that acting rightly, righteousness, emanates compassion, forgiveness, and love. Note that the image descending on Jesus is not a lion or even fire, it is a gentle dove. Whenever we allow our hearts to be moved towards greater compassion, tolerance, forgiveness, and love, the power of baptism is at work. The more we respond, the greater the awareness of this power.