Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
God the Father attests to the divinity of the Son at the moment of his baptism in the waters of the Jordan and, by this means, Jesus “manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.” (Jn 2:11) Jesus is Messiah.
His eternal messianic consecration was revealed during the time of his earthly life at the moment of his baptism by John, when “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power,” “that he might be revealed to Israel” (Acts 10:38; Jn 1:31) as its Messiah. His works and words will manifest him as “the Holy One of God.”(Mk 1:24; Jn 6:69; Acts 3:14) (CCC 438)
When he attained to the perfect age, when the time came for him to teach, to work miracles and to draw men to himself, then it was fitting for his Godhead to be attested from on high by the Father’s testimony, so that his teaching might be the more credible . ‘The Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me’ (Jn 5:37) (St. Thomas Aquinas,Summa theologiae, III, q. 39, a. 8 ad 3.)
Our Lord’s baptism, a sign only of his divinity, better enables us to understand our own reception of this great sacrament of initiation into Christian life and salvation. Baptism is a grace which we accept and in which we grow through a life of perseverance in prayer and worship in body, mind and spirit.
…after Baptism man needs to pray continually in order to enter heaven; for though sins are remitted through Baptism, there still remains the inclination to sin which assails us from within, and also the flesh and the devil which assail us from without. (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, III, q. 39, a. 5.)
The Father has spoken forth the eternal Word in Christ the Lord, and breathed forth the word of truth at the baptism of the Lord; “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.” (Lk 3:22) In our daily lives we are to grow in prayer, sacrifice and consecration, all by means of the Word of truth, poured forth for us continually in the proclamation of the Gospel and the sacramental life.
We encounter the Lord Jesus most perfectly and most fully each week in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, for He truly speaks to us when the Scriptures are proclaimed in the assembly and at the Communion of the Mass we truly receive Him Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Most Blessed Sacrament. By this God-given means the grace of our baptism will grow ever stronger, becoming “a fountain within us, welling up to eternal life”.