January 14, 2026 Editor’s note: The following is Bishop Terry R. LaValley’s homily for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Jan. 10-11. Three old buddies go out on Lake Champlain early one July morning for a day of leisurely fishing. Not long after they reach the middle of the lake, their creaky, wooden rowboat springs a rather serious leak. The two fellows in the back of the boat grab their recently emptied paper coffee cups to bail the water out of the bottom of the boat. Now, picture the scene. As they frantically toss cupful after cupful of water over the side, they notice their buddy simply sitting undisturbed in the front of the boat with his fishing line still in the water. In utter exasperation, they demand: “Why are you just sitting there? Why don’t you grab your cup and start bailing, too?” Their friend calmly answered, “But the hole is in your end of the boat.” Imagine if Jesus had adopted that attitude when it came to His acceptance of John’s baptism of repentance. He could have said, in effect: “Sin is a problem on your end, not mine. It’s my prerogative as the sinless One, the Son of God, to skip this ritual that doesn’t really apply to me.” The Son of God could have had the attitude – “the hole in the boat is on your side – you do the bailing!” By accepting the baptism of John, Jesus resists “pulling rank” and remaining aloof from the messiness of human sin; instead, He puts Himself “in the same boat” as the rest of humanity even as the “voice from heaven” confirms His unity with the Father and the Spirit. Think of the stereotypical “boss’s son” who can make life miserable for workers in the family business; he manipulates and lords it over them. Jesus hates this kind of status and attitude and chooses empathy and service. Shortly after His baptism, Jesus is tempted in the desert and taunted: “If you are the Son of God, prove it.” Yet, He resists this invitation to a power play and proves His relationship to God through obedience and trust. What God the Father tells Jesus after His baptism is what He wants to say to each one of us: “You are my beloved child; with you, I am well pleased.” Jesus came to earth in order to call forth God’s love on sinful humanity, to lift us back into membership in God’s family. Through the years, the image of a big boat, a ship, has been used as an image of the Church, the family of God. We encounter many headwinds these days and the seas are rough, but with Jesus beside us, we will never capsize. I’ve mentioned before that on the wall next to the door in my chapel at my house there is a print of a boat on stormy seas. Jesus is sitting in the back of the boat, asleep. Two frightened men in front are holding on for dear life. As I leave my chapel each morning, I gaze at that picture and wonder what kind of stormy seas I will face in the day ahead. It’s a reminder for me to remember Who’s in the boat with me. All will be well. God sees our misery, our sinfulness and instead of being repelled by it, He comes right into our midst. He actually puts Himself as close to us as possible, sharing even in our sufferings. He knows it’s hard for us to trust Him and follow Him, so He decided to come and sit by our side along the rough and turbulent waters of life, to be our strength in times of struggle, to assure us that He will never abandon us. That’s why He took our place in the waters of baptism and on the wood of the Cross. Later in the Gospels, we hear the genealogy of Jesus, tracing His ancestry all the way back to Adam. In that genealogy, Adam is described as the “son of God” because he had been created directly by God, as the first human. So, from the beginning, we were called to be members of God’s family. Our baptism is so important. It opens up new vistas for us. God believes in us. In Victor Hugo’s novel, Les Miserables, the newly released convict Jean Valjean finds shelter from the cold in the house of a Catholic bishop. (You probably are familiar with this award-winning Broadway play. A few years ago now, I watched the play when I was a student at St. Paul’s University in Ottawa at the NAC.) In the popular play, the bishop welcomes Valjean into his home and provides a warm meal. During the meal, Valjean notices the expensive silverware and decides to steal it. As soon as the bishop is asleep, Valjean absconds with the silver. The police collar Valjean, and, although he claims the bishop gave him the silverware, the police see through that lie and drag him back to the bishop. Valjean is trembling since he knows that this means he’ll be sent to jail for the rest of his life. But, something amazing happens. The police tell the bishop that Valjean claims he gave him the silverware. Valjean’s fate hangs by a thread as he breathlessly awaits the bishop’s response. Imagine his disbelief when Valjean hears the bishop say, “Yes, I gave him the silverware. I’m glad he’s returned, since I also gave him the silver candlesticks, too, but he forgot to take them.” Valjean’s life can never be the same after that. The Bishop forgave him and believed in him. So Valjean dedicates the rest of his life to doing good to others. In our baptism, God forgives. He believes in us. As people baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we continue our celebration of the Lord’s abiding presence to us in the sacrament of His very Body and Blood. No silver or gold is promised you and me. But eternal joy and happiness in heaven is promised the one who would follow Jesus. Given human nature, I suspect each of us has a hole in our creaky rowboats. Thank God the Son of God was born among us to bail us out if we but try to follow Him, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. For that, May God be praised…forever may God be praised! |
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