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Bishop's Homily for the Baptism of the Lord

January 11, 2026

(Halfpoint / Shutterstock.com)

[Our Lady of the Mount Church, Kalihi Valley (Santo Niño Celebration)]

When we are interacting with a baby – even if we are a university professor accustomed to speak in more exalted language – we usually use simple words, gestures, and even non-sensical sounds to communicate our love for the baby. The gestures are much more important than the words we use.

So it was when God became a man to sanctify us and free us from our sins. While Jesus certainly taught many profound lessons in words we could spend a lifetime contemplating, he knew that gestures were sometimes more important than words. His being born in a stable was one of those gestures that teaches us the value of humility, and his Baptism in the Jordan River, which we celebrate in a special way today, was another of those very important gestures in which Jesus communicated with us, his beloved children. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and Jesus, who had no sin, freely submitted himself to this baptism to show us that he is “all in” with us, even going down into the depths of our sin so that he could raise us up from the depths to the heights. And we see that after he was plunged into the depths of the Jordan, the heavens themselves opened up, with God the Father declaring his love for Jesus, his Son, and the Holy Spirit anointing him for his mission. Here it was not the words of Jesus that were as important as this gesture of humility in which Jesus immersed himself in our wayward humanity. This gesture was the beginning of his public ministry, in which he would wash the feet of his disciples, break bread with them, and lay down his life by the ultimate immersion in our sinful nature – and rising up to draw us all to heaven with him!

As we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord, we also recall our own Baptism, that wonderful sacrament in which our original sin was drowned so that we, too, could be declared beloved daughters and sons of God and that would open up for us the anointing with the Holy Spirit in Confirmation. But just as his Baptism was the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, our Baptism is also meant to be the beginning of our own mission to proclaim the Good News of Jesus to all. While we certainly benefit spiritually from our own immersion in the name of God himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are also empowered and expected to share this grace with others. It is our duty and our salvation to glorify God by calling others to immerse themselves so deeply in the love of God that their own identities become one with the identity of God himself.

Our devotion to the Santo Niño is also an important gesture, because it reminds us that very often we must communicate with the Lord himself as little children, in all humility, innocence, and simplicity. But it also reminds us that sometimes our task of evangelization is best accomplished in gestures of love and care for others. Jesus taught us that unless we become like little children we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. And so, we learn from the Holy Child how to become more childlike, not only in receiving the graces of the Kingdom but in sharing them with others.

To tell others that Jesus loves them is good, but to show them that love by caring for them when they are sick or suffering in some way can be much more effective. Praying for an end to war is a noble task, but being peacemakers ourselves in our families and among our friends is a more eloquent gesture. Lamenting the dehumanizing poverty that many people must endure is important, but sharing our resources with them is a much more effective gesture.

Words are important. But the living Word of God who took on our human nature shows us that gestures, even childlike and innocent gestures, can be much more effective in calling all to be immersed, soaked, baptized into the love of God that causes us to be more loving toward one another.