Pastor's Corner

From the Pastor

Pastor's Corner

January 11, 2026

Not the PASTOR’S CORNER….it’s the ASSISTANT’S ALLEY!

Christ’s Baptism and the Copernican Revolution

As faithful Catholics, we know the reason that Baptism exists. Our Lord said, “Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19). Moreover, we know what Baptism does: “the fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes forgiveness of original sin and all personal sins” (CCC 1279). Baptism removes all stain of sin and incorporates us into Christ’s Mystical Body the Church. So, why was Christ baptized?

Scripture clearly affirms that Jesus did not have any sin that needed removal, “for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15). Moreover, Christ does not need to be incorporated into God’s own Mystical Body since He is God from all eternity, as St. John relates to us: “In the beginning was the Word (i.e. the Son) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

All we have are Christ’s mysterious words to John the Baptist when the latter asks why he must baptize Jesus. Jesus replies, “for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt 3:15). What are we to make of this?

To grasp the meaning of Christ’s words and His Baptism, we must undergo, if I may, a kind of “Copernican Revolution.” Nicolaus Copernicus was a Polish astronomer in the 1500s, famous for proposing the idea that the Sun, not the Earth, is at the center of the universe.

Now, Copernicus’s theory is not entirely correct, but his central idea is indeed right. The Earth revolves around the Sun. This is commonly accepted today, and we are not bothered by it. But such an idea caused a firestorm in Copernicus’s own day, since it was widely assumed the Sun moves around the Earth (I mean, let’s cut them some slack, it certainly looks that way to the naked eye).

Anyway, Copernicus’s name has become synonymous with a “shift in perspective.” Instead of looking at the movement of the Sun, we need to examine the movement of the Earth. Astronomy has never looked back.

We need the same shift in perspective when examining Christ’s Baptism. We need a Copernican Revolution, and the answer is quite simple, deceptively simple, if I may say so.

Instead of focusing on what happens to Christ in His Baptism, let us focus on what Christ does to Baptism.

St. Thomas Aquinas gives the most beautiful description: “Christ was baptized, not that He might be cleansed, but that He might cleanse the waters.”

There, we have it. The Copernican Revolution. Christ was baptized to give power to the very waters of Baptism. The focus is not that John baptized Christ, although this is certainly worth our reflection, but rather, that Christ gives sacramental power to the water which is used. His plunging into the River Jordan fulfills all righteousness, by communicating the love of God to all generations of believers who have also been immersed in the waters of regeneration. Through our own Baptism, we have a real participation in the life of God .

The Sacraments of the Church have a “messy component.” The pouring of water, the smearing of oil, the breaking of bread. They involve physical touch because Christ, by His Incarnation, has sanctified the elements of the world with which we daily interact.

He took bread, not that He needed to feed on His own Body and Blood, but so that we might be able to receive Him. Likewise, He was baptized, not because He needed it, but because we needed to receive God’s forgiveness in those life-giving waters.

So, let us not dip our fingers haphazardly in the holy water fonts when we enter this sacred space. Instead, let us touch the holy water and recall that the water derives its significance because Christ has first touched it . We never take the initiative in this life. Our whole existence is a response to God’s love. Our baptismal cleansing is a reality because Christ has cleansed the waters of Baptism and communicated His life-giving power.

With this celebration, we conclude the Christmas Season and re-enter Ordinary Time, but we must always remember that as adopted children of God, no time is ever “ordinary .” No time is outside of God’s touch. No sphere of our life is beyond His power of renewal.

But we require a change in perspective, a Copernican Revolution, to focus on God rather than ourselves.

Faith Like a Child

If you Google Search recommendations on how to raise generous children, almost every list of ideas begins with — or at least contains — the directive for adults to be good models of generosity themselves. Our children learn from our actions much more than from our words. Of course, when I think back over the years while my children were growing up, I think I may have learned as much from them as they learned from me. There is a time between early childhood and middle school where a child seems to be freer to give and share than at any other time in life. It is around the age of First Communion when the cries of “mine” turn to laughter and smiles, and the urge to be a part of something bigger than oneself leads to sharing. Before you know it, the child hits the pre-teen years, and once again, he or she becomes the center of the universe. I believe that the previous paragraph is all true, however, the stages described seem to repeat themselves throughout adulthood. Don’t you agree? Sometimes we fall into seeing ourselves as the center of the universe, or we become consumed by our state in life or with what we have acquired. Also, we at times are generous and loving people. It is sin that draws us back into ourselves and away from any meaningful life of stewardship and generosity. In order to be freed for love, we need role models to help us see what really matters. We need to reflect on the example of many of our brothers and sisters in Christ. And, yes, we need to look to children who may be at the point in their lives where sharing is fun, and love is something in abundance.

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