Today we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and the Christmas  season formally comes to a close! This beautiful feast should give us much food for thought, especially in this year when our Rector Major invites us to focus on the theme: Good Christians and upright citizens.

At all our Masses this weekend, we will renew our Baptismal Promises. This is a reminder to each of us that, by Baptism, we are called to be disciples of the Lord. As disciples of Jesus, our life takes on two very important directions.

First, recalling John the Baptism’s words: He must increase; I must decrease! This is a great challenge to us in our world where we are constantly being told we need to affirm ourselves— I gotta be me— we have to be self-actualized and self-fulfilled! Discipleship calls us to the exact opposite: my journey in life should be the passage for me to become another Jesus. Jesus must be seen in me and I must see Him in others! With St. Paul, the Christian disciples’ goal is to say: I live! No! No! I no longer live; Jesus lives in me! And so, today, with the renewal of our Baptism promises, we must ask ourselves: am I becoming another Jesus? Does my life point to Him and His Lordship?

Second, we recall Jesus’ words to Peter: Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s! Jesus’ disciples are good citizens. However, the context of paying this tax says more. Since the coin has the head of Caesar on it, in a certain sense, the coin is his. There are things in life that belong to “Caesar”— but there are also things in life that belong to God and not to “Caesar”. We live in a world where there is a continual and constant attempt to side line God more and more, forgetting that He, and He alone, is the Lord of history. Still, these words affirm that the state does have certain and clear rights which we, as upright citizens, must respect. On the other hand, through Baptism, we have the image of God stamped upon us! We are made in the image of God and through Baptism we are sealed as His adopted sons and daughters. We belong to God. Both the state and we belong to God— and if there is ever a conflict loyalty to God has first claim.

Ideally, there should be no conflict between being a good Christian and upright citizen; yet, more and more, we find ourselves in conflicting situations. This weekend the challenge is put to us very directly: through Baptism I am called to be His disciple; in the face of conflict do I have the courage to choose God over the state regardless of the cost?

God bless you !
Fr. Pat Angelucci