Baptism of Our Lord (A): Jan 13, 2008 Sunday
I’m sure many of you have pictures of yourselves or your family that date back long ago. At my house, we still have wedding pictures of my parents which would be from 1969. We also have pictures of my dad when he was a high school student. That would have been from 1958. What is the oldest picture or artifact that has been handed down in your own family? 1920? 1870?
This past two weeks while traveling through Rome, Italy, I got to see some really old family heirlooms that have been handed down through our Catholic Christian family. At the basement of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City, I saw the bones of St. Peter. That would be from around 64 A.D. At St. Paul’s Basilica, I saw the bones of St. Paul which would be from 67 A.D. At the Basilica of 
Santa Croce, I saw the pieces of the cross on which Jesus died, which would have been from around 33 A.D. At the Basilica of St. Mary Major, I saw the pieces of wood that was part of the manger on which Jesus was laid. And at the Basilica of the Holy House in Loreto, I saw the house in which Angel Gabriel appeared to Blessed Virgin Mary. This house was moved from Jerusalem when Crusaders were being expelled from that city. This house would date sometime before zero A.D.
This past two weeks while traveling through Rome, Italy, I got to see some really old family heirlooms that have been handed down through our Catholic Christian family. At the basement of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City, I saw the bones of St. Peter. That would be from around 64 A.D. At St. Paul’s Basilica, I saw the bones of St. Paul which would be from 67 A.D. At the Basilica of 
Santa Croce, I saw the pieces of the cross on which Jesus died, which would have been from around 33 A.D. At the Basilica of St. Mary Major, I saw the pieces of wood that was part of the manger on which Jesus was laid. And at the Basilica of the Holy House in Loreto, I saw the house in which Angel Gabriel appeared to Blessed Virgin Mary. This house was moved from Jerusalem when Crusaders were being expelled from that city. This house would date sometime before zero A.D.
It is by sheer God’s miraculous grace that all these things still exist and are preserved. And God has preserved these for a purpose: to help us recall our roots. Just as our old family pictures of grand parents remind us where we came from, these artifacts remind us where we as Christians came from. And there is one very old, living artifact that all of us carry with us that we are celebrating today. Each of us carries the baptism of Our Lord. Our own baptism is intimately linked with Our Lord’s own baptism. The same Holy Spirit that descended on Jesus descended on us, and the same voice of the Father that spoke to Jesus spoke to us on our own day of baptism—“This is my beloved son and daughter, with whom I am well pleased.”
What a privilege for Glenn and Amber’s children to be baptized on Our Lord’s own feast day of baptism. And what a privilege it is for all of us here to witness once again God’s own Spirit descending on these children and to hear God’s Voice that spoke to Jesus on his day of baptism and on our own day of baptism. It’s not just an old artifact that gathers dust somewhere, but it is living and powerful reminder that God has given us a living heritage that goes back 2,000 years and that will last through eternity.
