The Cathedral of St. Matthew in South Bend concluded the Christmas season with a special Mass and visit by Bishop Rhoades to mark the feast of the Baptism of the Lord on Sunday, January 11. The celebration included the baptism of two infant girls. “Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, w e can be reborn as sons and daughters of God and receive the gift of new life,” Bishop Rhoades said in his homily. “This is what happens in the wonderful gift of the Sacrament of Baptism. We are inserted into the very life of Jesus who died on the cross to free us from sin, and in rising from the dead, conquered death. We are especially reminded of this gift today since during this Mass I will be baptizing two beautiful infants. … With Baptism, they will become sharers in Christ’s death and resurrection. They will be set free from original sin. The life of grace will be born within them, which is the very life of the Risen Jesus. Bishop Rhoades continued, saying that when the two girls were both, “they exited the darkness of the wombs of their mothers and entered into the light of the outside world. Today, they will enter into the light of Christ and became children of the light. When they were born, they were able to see for the first time the faces of their mothers and fathers and to be held in their arms. Today, the day of their rebirth in baptism, they won’t be exiting their mother’s wombs; rather, they will be entering another womb, the womb of their spiritual mother, the Church. This mother, the Church, the Bride of Christ, will nourish and guide them, beginning with their family, the domestic church, in which their parents will teach them, protect them, and care for them, not only for their bodily needs, but for their spiritual growth in the life of grace that they receive in Baptism today.” The church echoed with sounds of active children, an ornately adorned altar full of lights and flowers, and the air was filled with the aroma of incense. The community was filled with joy on the last day of the Christmas season. At Mass, the congregation listened to the story of Jesus coming from Galilee to the Jordan River to begin his public ministry. “He did so by joining the hundreds of people who were flocking from all over Palestine to hear the preaching of John the Baptist and to be baptized by John as a sign of their repentance and conversion from sin,” Bishop Rhoades said. “John the Baptist was shocked to see Jesus in that line of sinners, for he had recognized Jesus as the Messiah, the One who was without sin, coming to him to be baptized. John knew that Jesus didn’t need the baptism of repentance he was administering. The Gospel today tells us that John objected and said to Jesus, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?’ But Jesus insisted on being baptized. He gave the reason: ‘to fulfill all righteousness.’ In other words, to do the will of His Father and accomplish His plan of salvation. That plan includes His entering into solidarity with sinners, taking our sins upon Himself by suffering and dying for us. That was His mission.” When Jesus emerged from the water, we see the Spirit revealed, descending upon Jesus in the form of a dove, Bishop Rhoades said. The baptism of Jesus is a splendid revelation of the Most Holy Trinity: the voice of God the Father, the presence of God the Holy Spirit, and the Son, Jesus. “Jesus became one with humanity by becoming man and shows His becoming one with our sinful humanity when He chose to be baptized even though He is without sin,” Bishop Rhoades said. “Jesus began His public activity by stepping into the place of sinners and being baptized by John in the waters of the Jordan River. The Baptism of Jesus was an anticipation of His passion, the baptism of His bloody death. … By loving us to the end, He accomplished our redemption. When Jesus’ side was pierced with the soldier’s spear after His death on the cross, blood and water flowed from His heart, signs of the sacraments of new life, baptism and the Eucharist, and the Church was born,” said Bishop Rhoades. It was noted at Mass that St. Matthew Cathedral was embarking on the parish phase of the diocesan synod, the first in the diocese since 1926. Father Andrew Budzinski, rector of the cathedral, noted the feast of the Baptism of the Lord is a time to begin intentional prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to show us what to do. “As disciples of Jesus Christ, we’re required by Him to take stock of how we’re doing in His mission, and to take steps to do the things we’re not doing that He is calling us to do,” shared Father Budzinski. The post ‘Reborn as Sons and Daughters of God’ appeared first on Today's Catholic. ...read more read less