(Feast of Our Lord's baptism 2011)

One theme of our readings this Feast of Our Lord’s Baptism is that of the voice. In the Gospel we read that after John baptized Our Lord, a voice came form the heavens - the voice of the Father saying, “This is My Beloved Son. My favor rests on Him.” John the Baptist is the voice crying in the wilderness, “Prepare away for the Lord.” As St. Augustine said, “John is the voice. Jesus is the Word.”

What is a voice? It is a cry, an utterance, an expression, an articulation. To be the voice for others is to be their advocate.
 
What are the voices in your life? Who are the voices in your life? Are you listening to the voice of your heart? Or are other people’s voices ruling your life? Who are the voices you listen to and don’t listen to? What are the voices dominating your life? What are the voices haunting you all these years? What are the voices you want to drown but can’t drown?
 
World history has proven time and time again that there are voices that can’t be drowned because they are voices clamouring for freedom, justice and peace. The voice of an Aung Suu Kyi of Burma who fought the regime of dictatorial generals in 1990 by non-violent resistance. The voice of a Nelson Mandela who fought for anti-apartheid in South Africa. The voice of a Mahatma Gandhi. The voice of a Ninoy Aquino.
 
How about the voices of the poor people around us? Or the poor right in the midst of our families and communities. What have your spouse and children been asking of you all this time? And children, what are the things your parents want from you in your life now?
 
The voices of our enemies. The voice of our detractors, of those who slander and malign us, the voice of criticisms and corrections. What is the truth behind all their remarks against us ? If they are indeed telling the truth, then we ought to accept it and work on it in our lives.
 
The voices of our sins, our passions and our vices. How we struggle to let go of these sins. St. Augustine had the same struggle of which he wrote in his autobiography, The Confessions, as he heard the words, “ Are you going to dismiss us? From this moment on we shall never be with you again, for ever and ever. From this moment on you will never be allowed to do this thing, or that, forevermore? “
 
The inner voice of our conscience which tells what are the things we’ve done wrong and what are the things we’ve done rightly. The voice which cries out to us of the injustices we have committed and which demand reparation and the voice which encourages us to continue those works of righteousness.
 
The voice of our dreams, our ideals, the voice of our heart’s deepest desire. They cannot but be indicative of our mission in life, of our true calling or the calling within a calling.
 
The voices of the past haunting us. The ghosts of the past. The voices of our traumatic and hurtful experiences. The voices of unresolved issues. The voices of unresolved hurts. And since they are unresolved they will continue to haunt us unless, by the Grace of God, we face them and work of them.
 
The voice of God speaking to us not only in Scriptures, in the Mass, in our spiritual readings, but in everything that has happened and is happening to us. God is speaking to us in everything, even in our failures, rejections and disappointments. Our task is but to listen but how can we listen if our lives are full of noise?  How can we pray and ponder on things that really matter in life if there is so much clutter and noise in our hearts?
 
As we celebrate the feast of our Lord’s Baptism, we are reminded of the responsibilities of our baptismal vows. An American writer, Erma Loiuse Bombeck, wrote, "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I hope I do not have a single bit of talent left and could say. 'I have used everything You gave me.'"

That is what it means to having lived our baptismal vows to the full. It would be very tragic to look back at our lives and realize how we have spent our lives just living for ourselves, just seeking ourselves. It would be glorious to see our lives spent and wasted in the service of our brothers and sisters because that is what it means to love God! Isn’t this our Lord’s injunction: Greater love no man has than to lay down his life for his friends?