Homily for the Baptism of the Lord Sunday (Year A) January 11, 2026

The following transcript of the homily is in the original formatting that was used for the sake of live delivery with all cues, emphasis, and notes included.

Reading for the Baptism of the Lord (A)

• Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
• Acts 10:34-38
• Matthew 3:13-17 [Focus of Homily]

Transcript:

“He came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him.” Words from the Gospel According to Matthew

In the Name of the Father + and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us say it was 3 o’clock in the afternoon when it happened.

Long ago in the garden.

When the clouds started to roll in for the first time to block the sky and cover the sun.

When broad daylight itself was dimmed.

When the first darkness that was not just the coming of the night marking one day from the next came.

At the dawn of creation, the beginning of vice,

With the beginning of a bite.

Long ago when Adam fell,

And took humanity with him.

Long ago when Adam sinned,

And implicated the world.

Long ago when Adam closed the heavens,

And shut man’s ears to the voice of God.

Now, let us flash forward in time,

A millennia or two,

Until we arrive again at the muddy shores of today’s gospel reading.

Let us say it was 3 o’clock in the afternoon when it happened.

Long ago at the river.

When clouds began to part and uncover the sun.

When overcast was overthrown.

When the first light that was not just the sun poured in and came.

At the dawn of salvation, the beginning of grace,

When a request was embraced.

Long ago when Christ went down into the depths,

And began to take on humanity’s debts.

Long ago when Christ was submerged,

And brought remedy to the world.

Long ago when Christ opened the heavens,

And brought the voice of the Father to the ears of men saying:

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

So, oh! – the day, when Christ was baptized!

– Joy to the world!

But, ow! – the day when Adam fell!

– Lord, help the world!

Because in order to understand Christ’s plunge,

We must first understand Adam’s fall.

In order to understand the Jordan River,

We must first understand the Garden of Eden.

In order to understand the baptism of the Son of Man,

We must first understand the cataclysm of the fall of man.

For, when Adam fell into sin – he took humanity with him.

By his original sin,

By his disobedience to God,

By taking what he had no right to receive and assuming it to himself,

(the knowledge of good and evil),

– He had shut humanity’s ears to the voice of God.

And then – Christ went down to the river.

For, when Jesus “fell” into the water – He, too, took humanity with Him.

By His inaugural work,

By His obedience to the Father,

By exchanging His glory and assuming to Himself flesh capable of being plunged into murky waters,

(and rising with dirt that had no right to cling to Him),

– He had caused the voice of the Father to be heard by human ears once again.

For, Adam was a son of God insofar as he was created by the Lord who gave him earthly life in time,

But he used that very same life to reject divine sonship,

And caused all wickedness,

By his rejection o`f God’s directions.

And then Christ when down to the river.

For, Jesus was the unique Son of God as the only begotten of the Lord with whom He possessed the same divine Life from eternity,

And He used that same Life to bring divine sonship,

And “fulfill all righteousness”,

By His submission to the Father’s mission.

For, with Adam came beginning of:

• the darkness of sin against God,
• the clouds of ignorance of the knowledge of God,
• And the blackness of death for those meant to live for God.

AND THEN CHRIST WENT DOWN TO THE RIVER!

For, with Jesus came the beginning of:

• the light of the righteousness of God,
• the clarity of the truth about God,
• And the white-bright dawn of life for those meant to live with God.

FOR THE CHRIST WHO WENT DOWN TO THE RIVER,

“CAME UP FROM THE WATER”,

“And BEHOLD – the HEAVENS WERE OPENED for HIM,

AND HE SAW THE SPIRIT OF GOD DESCENDING”

And the FATHER LENDING His Voice to the world below proclaiming:

“THIS IS MY BELOVED SON”,

So that through the waters made holy by Christ in the Jordan,

And the waters made holy by the priest in the parish,

The sinful sons of Adam,

Might become the redeemed Sons of God!

And at the end of life say to you in the pew:

“I am well pleased.”

For, “the LORD [has] called you for the victory of justice” in the Just One.’’

And even now the same Lord has you grasped by the hand,

Ready to lead you from the baptismal waters,

Through this life,

All the way to the clouds of heaven.

But first – We must recount that it was in fact 3 o’clock in the afternoon when it happened.

Long ago on top of the hill outside the city – outside Jerusalem.

When the clouds closed the sky,

But the curtains wore torn open.

When the sun was covered,

And a Son covered the blood soaked plank of wood stuck up from the earth.

For this Light still remained exposed.

And the fateful words were remembered then – words for us all even now,
Can you “be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”

In the Name of the Father + of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.