RTE broadcast Mass life from St. Mary's Navan

On Sunday, 11 January on the Feast of Baptism of the Lord, RTÉ started broadcasting all Sunday Mass and worship transmissions directly from churches, marking a significant move away from studio-based broadcasting to local church locations and worship settings. This Mass was broadcast live at 11.00am from Saint Mary’s Church, Navan, Co Meath, in the Diocese of Meath, and the celebrant was Father Declan Hurley.

Fr. Hurley's Homily:
One of the beautiful things that we are privileged to witness from time to time is when an adult presents for baptism. Most of us were baptised as infants. I was baptised a few days after my birth at this font, and I am so grateful to my parents and to my godparents – my grandmother Eileen and my grandfather John – for bringing me into the life of the Church so quickly, so that I could have access to life in Christ and to the grace that flows from God through the life of the Church, calling me and shaping me every day as a child of God, a living temple of the Holy Spirit.

But there is something very moving about seeing an adult come forward for Baptism. And I think it’s because there is a huge level of personal decision in taking that step as an adult. And you wonder about their life journey, the experiences and the encounters they’ve had, the witness to Christian faith they’ve seen, and the work of God’s grace that has led that adult to say publicly, “I want to be baptised”.

We see a similar dynamic in the Gospel today. Jesus makes the journey from Galilee to the river Jordan where John is baptising. He comes for the specific purpose of being baptised by John, and despite John’s reservations, Jesus is determined to be baptised. And when he is baptised by John, Jesus has an intense experience of his identity being affirmed. Matthew tells us that Jesus saw the Holy Spirit coming down on him, and that he heard a heavenly voice – it can only be the voice of the Father! – which proclaimed him as the Son, the Beloved, on whom the Father’s favour rests. That must have been a really affirming experience for Jesus, to have that affirmation of his identity. And it must have given him confidence and strength because we know that he then goes straight into the desert to prepare for his mission. For Jesus, then, his baptism is an affirmation of his identity that prepares him for his mission. And it’s not the work of John the Baptist – it’s the work of the Father and the Holy Spirit.

And so perhaps, that’s what we find so beautiful when we see an adult being baptised. Their personal decision, their personal choice to ask for Baptism, is transformed in the waters of Baptism into a new identity and new mission. The newly baptised adult takes on a new identity as a son or daughter of God, and is anointed for a mission:

the mission of sharing in Christ’s ministry as priest, because they will offer prayer and sacrifice to God in “the assembly of the faithful”;

the mission of sharing in Christ’s ministry as prophet, because they will live by God’s Word and carry the light of the Gospel to others;

and the mission of sharing in Christ’s ministry as king – yes, king! – because they will bring his kingdom of justice, love, peace, and truth into the reality of the life that they share with others, and build up the Body of Christ which is the Church in faith, hope, and love.

But what about the rest of us who were baptised as infants? Did we miss out on something by not having made that personal choice at the moment of our Baptism? In response I would say: only if we haven’t chosen it over, and over, and over again, and only if we don’t choose it again today! In a few moments, we will renew our baptismal promises, and that is another opportunity for all of us to freely choose Baptism, to say publicly: I want to be a son or daughter of God … I want to experience the love and favour of God the Father … I want the Holy Spirit to live in me and to make me more like Christ every day … I want the light of Christ to burn brightly in my life … I want to live by God’s Word and carry the Gospel to others … I want to be filled with faith, hope, and love … I want to share in the mission of building up the People of God, the Pobal Dé.

And if you would like to develop and deepen in yourself that sense of your identity and mission as a baptised person, I suggest that we all develop the practice of saying, “I am baptised”, as opposed to, “I was baptised”. To say, “I was baptised” is to refer to the event in the past, as I did earlier when I said that I was baptised at this font. But to say, “I am baptised” is to proclaim my identity as a son or daughter of God; it affirms that I have rights in the Church; it reminds me that I also have responsibilities as a member of the Church; and it declares that the main actor in my life is not me, but the Holy Spirit transforming me into the likeness of Christ, now and in eternity.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ through Baptism, gathered in this Church and joining us via television, as the Church in Ireland this year – as part of its synodal pathway – focuses on what it means to be fully alive in our baptismal calling, let us now once again freely choose to live as baptised members of the Church. Let us once again embrace our baptismal identity and mission, as we renew the promises made at our Baptism.

Photo: TheWay.ie Text: www.catholicbishops.ie