He who had no beginning, shows us how to begin

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

We are at the beginning.

The new year may be two weeks old, but this week's Gospel for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord takes us to the beginning - the start of Jesus' earthly ministry. In Matthew's Gospel (3:13-17), we hear how Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately after, Jesus saw the Spirit descending upon him from heaven. Finally, he was driven into the desert for 40 days, without food, until angels "came and ministered to him" (Mt 4:11).

In a similar way, each Christian begins the life of faith. We do so through the sacraments, starting with Baptism. In the early church, new members received three sacraments at once: baptism, confirmation and Eucharist. Today, these are called the sacraments of initiation and remain grouped together for those who enter the church through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).

For those in the RCIA who are preparing to enter the church at the Easter Vigil, things move into "high gear" as we approach Lent. Those who have never been baptized, the catechumens, will receive all three of the sacraments. Those who have already been baptized in another Christian faith, will receive confirmation and Eucharist. During Lent, they will all be prepared for the sacraments through training in the faith, prayer and other spiritual preparation within the community.

An initiation is the start of a new path - "initiation" comes from an Indo-European word meaning "beginning." With baptism, we begin again in Christ, laying a solid foundation that will last for eternity. Each of the three sacraments of initiation builds upon that foundation. Through them, as with all sacraments, we receive grace, which is a share in the very life of God, given to us through Christ.

The Sacrament of Baptism: Just as Jesus demonstrated, the first step in our new lives in Christ involves a new birth through water. The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" teaches that the "two principle effects are purification from sins and new birth in the Holy Spirit" (no. 1262). This sacrament brings about the lasting effect of membership in the Church, the Body of Christ. Through it, we are united to Christ, through his church.

As John the Baptist pointed out, Jesus himself did not need any purification from sin or a new birth - but the Lord chose to undergo baptism as a guide to us. We are to become like Christ and so we follow him into the waters, just as we will some day follow him into death and eternal life.

The Sacrament of Confirmation: The Spirit came upon Jesus as he came out of the Jordan. With this act, the Father and the Spirit confirmed Jesus as "the beloved" and the one sent on the mission of salvation. For us, this sacrament is linked with Pentecost (the coming of the Spirit upon the church) and the sending of the disciples. Again we follow Christ - first into the desert of life, then into the work of building up the church, Christ's Body. Just as Jesus set out with the assurance of his Father's love, the sacrament of confirmation "gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross" (Catechism, no. 1303).

The Sacrament of Eucharist: This was instituted by Christ at the Last Supper. However, throughout his ministry, he foreshadowed the feast of his body when he fed the multitudes (Mt 14:13-21 and 15:32-39), gave Peter a miraculous catch of fish (Lk 5:1-11) and turned water to wine at Cana (Jn 1:1-12).

After his baptism, Jesus went without food in the desert until he received food from heaven to strengthen him for his work on earth. For us, the Eucharist is given by Christ as heavenly food, a share in the Messianic banquet. It also renews us in our mission to continue the work of salvation. This "source and summit" of our Christian faith makes the Paschal Mystery of Christ - and all the grace and power of that mystery of death and resurrection - present to us in our own lives. Christ, who sends us out on the mission, joins himself to us in the Eucharist by giving us his own body and blood to guide us.

Eucharist completes the sacraments of initiation - and it is the only one of the three that can be repeated. That, too, is grace and gift. Just as Jesus needed to go away to spend time in prayer to be renewed in his mission, we also need time with him to gain new strength. As the Catechism tells us, "What material food produces in our bodily life, holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh 'given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit,' preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death, when it will be given to us as viaticum" (no. 1392).

And so, like the new year, we begin - and continue onward - again.