Homily for the Baptism of the Lord

(This homily is even shorter that usual! This is because we have a Mission Appeal this weekend)

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‘It is I who need baptism from you’ John said (Matthew 3:14)

We need to be baptised. It is the wiping away of our original sin, and - if we need it - our actual sins too. It restores us to our lost innocence. It is our union with him in the Church. Baptism is our entry into eternal life.

Christ needs none of this. He is free from sin. He is fully at one with God. So why does he do it?

Not for himself - but for us. Not because he needs it, but because we need it. He is born for us, lives for us, dies and rises for us. And he is baptised, so that through baptism we may become one with him.