January 11, 2026 at Saint Peter the Apostle and Saint William Churches in Naples, FL
Isaiah 42: 1-4, 607 + Psalm + Acts 10: 34-38 + Matthew 3: 13017
If any of you have had the opportunity and privilege I have had, you surely saw the Jordan river. Having seen countless holy cards, and paintings of Jesus coming up out of pristine blue waters and stepping onto the lush green grass, I was shocked and not a little put off by what I saw. At the place where we stopped, it was little more than a ditch with brown muddy water barely moving down to the Dead Sea. Some in our tour struggled down through the rocks to touch or collect some of that water. Several people waded in to it. I didn’t want to get near that water let along touch it. I have no idea what the Jordan River may have been like 2,000 years ago, but I suspect that what artists imagined might have been true. What we have now is probably a good testament about how this earth and its precious water has been treated, and still is.
That evening, I reflected on my reluctance to go down to that water, and how willingly Jesus did. It occurred to me that the Son of God left the glory of heaven to come down to this earth and mingle with the likes of us. Willing to touch lepers, be seen with known sinners, and even though innocent, suffer the agonizing death of a criminal.
There is something more to think about, something more revealed than just a conversation with John the Baptist and a voice speaking to all confirming who it is that has come up from this water. Matthew tells us that the heavens were opened. There is new communication between you and me and God. This is a decisive moment in human history. Not only did I begin to understand that this moment Matthew describes is another way of seeing the Incarnation, I began to see what science is leaning toward, that all life forms began in the water and eventually, came up onto the land. There is so much more to this story than just a day in the life of Jesus or John. It is an opportunity to see and come to grips with the truth and reality of God coming into human life.
We are all searching for God. If it sometimes seems difficult to find God, it might be that we are looking in the wrong places. Instead of looking into beautiful basilicas and a church, or looking up to mountain tops, maybe we should be looking in the ghettos. If Jesus went down into that river, he got dirty. Sometimes, it seems to me, if we really want to follow Jesus Christ, we need to get dirty as well. It could be that when we do, we may be surprised at the beautiful light shining out from where we least expect it.
We may not celebrate the Baptism of the Lord without celebrating and remembering out own baptism, which is a decisive moment in our history. It is the moment when we choose whether or not we shall live as Christ lived or not. How we are to do that is revealed in the readings we heard before this Gospel. They offer some guidance: establish and inspire justice and be open to all people.