January 9, 2022
Paulist Fr. Rich Andre prepared this homily on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Year C) on January 9, 2022, at St. Austin Catholic Parish in Austin, TX. The homily is based on the day’s readings: Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Psalm 29 or 104; Acts 10:34-38; and Luke 3:15-16, 21-22.
Today is the last day of the Christmas season. Our gospel begins roughly 30 years after Jesus’ birth, but in the weeks, days, and moments before he starts his public ministry. But after Jesus is baptized, the Holy Spirit descends upon him, he hears God’s voice, and his mission begins in earnest. For that reason, today is also the first day of Ordinary Time.
We all have been baptized into Christ’s baptism. Therefore, as we are sprinkled with holy water and as we reflect on Jesus setting prisoners free and healing the oppressed, let us affirm that these are the commands that God gives us as members of the Body of Christ. And, as we’ll hear in today’s homily, Pope Francis invites us to follow those commands in a very specific way in the upcoming weeks and months, a way that may permanently transform our Church and our world.
Every year on this feast, people ask, “If Jesus was born without original sin, why did he need to be baptized?” Talk with any adult preparing to be baptized, and ask them why they want to be baptized. They don’t talk about escaping hell or being cleansed of original sin. They talk about belonging, community, and following Christ. They recognize that their relationship with God involves the rest of us.
We are each baptized to be prophets, priests, and kings in the Kingdom of God. Like God called the prophets of the Old Testament, Jesus calls each of us to speak God’s truth. Like God directed the Levitical priests, Jesus directs each of us to lead others to holiness. Like God entrusted David and Solomon, Jesus entrusts each of us with the responsibility to allow all people to flourish.
But all too often, when it comes to speaking, directing, and exercising responsibility in the Catholic Church, we emphasize ordination over baptism. Pope Francis is attempting to transform the philosophy of leadership in the Church so that is based more on the universal gifts of baptism than the particular gifts of ordination. This is not a new idea, but it hasn’t been emphasized much in recent centuries. This concept, this process, this way of being Church is called synodality.
The root word of synodality is synod, spelled S-Y-N-O-D. Let’s start with the letters O-D, at same as the first letters of the word odometer, the device that counts the miles someone has traveled in a car. The prefix S-Y-N means to be together, to be in sync. Therefore, synodality is the idea of people sharing their journeys with one another, or traveling together. We need to value the gifts, the insights, and the experiences of all members of Christ’s Body, not just the people who are ordained. To be a responsive Church, we need to be a listening Church.
The bishops of the early Church often resolved theological disputes by holding local synods… but synods became less common in the Middle Ages. In the 1960s, Vatican II called for a re-introduction of synodality. In the first 48 years after Vatican II, the Church had organized 15 general synods of bishops selected from around the world, but honestly, these synods fell far short of Vatican II’s expectations. They didn’t accomplish much because of various procedural reasons: what can you accomplish in a 4-week meeting where everyone speaks different languages?
In his 8 years as pope, Francis has called four synods, and he’s trying to find ways to make them truly synodal. He’s encouraged bishops to speak honestly. He’s made the process more deliberative, allowing more time for the Holy Spirit to blow wherever she wills. Francis has encouraged every diocese to survey lay people – including non-Catholics – beforehand. It’s a far messier process. The opposition to Francis’ approach is growing… and that opposition is mostly based here in the United States.
This past fall, Francis announced a two-year process to prepare for a Synod on Synodality in late 2023. It’s been predictably messy so far. By the time the Vatican issued specific instructions, there wasn’t a lot of time for every diocese in the world to devise a deliberative process to solicit feedback from every parish and send it back up the chain as prescribed. Our parish needs to give its feedback to the Diocese of Austin by February 1. So, we’re asking you to celebrate your baptism into the Body of Christ by joining us in the first phase of our parish synodal process over the next 15 days.
We want everyone with even the most remote connection to St. Austin Catholic Parish – including former Catholics, your non-Christian neighbors and friends, and anyone who hears or reads this homily, wherever in the world you live – to participate. We want each of you – and them – to take at least one of the three actions succinctly spelled out on our website at staustin.org/synod. [Editor’s note: the content on that page will be continue to be updated after January 2022 with further parish synodal activites.]
- If you feel safe coming, please participate to our in-person town hall synod listening session right here in the church on Saturday morning, January 22.
- Join us for an online town hall listening session on Monday evening, January 24. The link and the password are available at staustin.org/synod.
- Fill out “The Long Survey” on “The Short Survey” provided on that same page.
Here at St. Austin, we will continue this listening process internally for the next year or two, allowing us a better chance to listen to the Holy Spirit instructing us how we can better be Church for one another and for our neighbors. We’re excited that parishioner Elizabeth Korves is helming this process. Thank you, Elizabeth!
Every year on this feast, I close with a certain poem by Howard Thurman. Let us remember that once the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus, he hears the voice of God. After his desert experience, he returns to Nazareth and proclaims a portion of the scroll of Isaiah, announcing that the passage is fulfilled in the people’s hearing it. We have been baptized into Jesus’ mission, as outlined by Isaiah and referenced by Thurman.
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.
As we listen to fellow parishioners and strangers alike, we will hear the voice of God. May the Holy Spirit be upon them to announce a year of favor, a release of captives, and a setting the prisoners free. May Isaiah’s prophecy be fulfilled once again in our hearing. And then, the work of Christmas will begin again!