Today is the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord, it ends the Christmas Season and at the end of this mass, we return to Ordinary Time for about a month.

There is an interesting message in today’s celebration. First, we are no longer dealing with Jesus as a child, he is an adult at thirty years old when he is baptized. This becomes the beginning of his ministry.

Yet immediately after this, he goes out to the desert, led by the Holy Spirit, where he is tempted by the Devil. Why would the spirit do this, to strengthen Jesus for his mission.

There is an interesting thought that the Devil appears at the end of Jesus life as he is praying in the garden. No, that is not fully accurate. The Devil is working against Jesus from his birth, but especially from this moment and Jesus has to deal with the devil.

It is well known that the work of pharisees, scribes and sadducees is rooted in a hardness of heart that becomes demonic. They refuse to accept Jesus and decide they will do all they can to destroy his mission and him. However, He is God’s son, you would expect He would have an easier time of it.

So it must be with us. You represent God’s son as you were baptized in His Spirit and given the mission then to be His voice, literally. There are many that want to silence you and they will do all they can to do so. They will use all the techniques in the Bible at times in order to destroy this parish and what is worse to make it more secular.

Do not be surprised if this happens, we have an important message and the devil wants it silenced. The more effective our work, the more some will work against us. We need to expect this resistance and to be rooted in Christ so that, like Him, we can persevere through it.

You may have professors trying to get your grown children to reject Christ at college. I was explaining to the confirmation students that millions is spent on trying to get people to reject our church, millions and maybe billions. Why, because the spirit of this world wants us silenced, because we cost them money and power to do things that will damage this race. The issue is not that this happens, but that you must not be surprised that this happens.

People will complain: “Why do they always want to attack the Catholics? We have a right to express our faith just like anyone else.” What we should say instead, is:  “Why are we surprised they always attack the Catholics? We are the Church that Christ founded and many in our world want us silenced.” We preach truth and many do not want to hear truth.

• We speak for the one who wants all saved to those enemies of God who tell us they are the ones who will determine who will be born.
• We represent the voice of moral wisdom to those who say that Christian morality will not happen on this planet.
• We speak for the most holy one to the usurper who spreads rumors and lies because he wants his world his way.

Of course, they want us silenced.  The Holy Spirit has forged you to resist them.

Does the person too busy to pay attention to their faith want to hear that they are outside of God’s kingdom for not making God a priority in his or her life? Do they want to hear you tell them this.

How about the person who wants his or her world or life his or her way and rejects any kind of thought of living a way that brings life to all. Do they want to hear you? No and they are much happier when our church is silent.

What about a secular group that wants to silence the Church some of them even from the inside?

If the spirit had to prepare Jesus for this work, then you cannot be surprised when you are doing it to. You have been called by the Spirit to do this work and the more you are filled with grace you will succeed.

The Spirit prepared Jesus for encountering resistance from the devil at every turn. You too must not be surprised if you seek to live the faith to see resistance happen to you or the parish as well. But woe to him or her by whom it happens.

The sign that you are doing the work of the spirit is that those who are doing the work of the enemies of Christ from the seemingly apathetic who ignore things of Christ to the militantly anti-Catholic will make your life difficult. It is at that time says the Church that the spirit is resting on your shoulder.

Jesus was led by the spirit to be tempted by the Devil and to have his mission forged in his mind. We too are called to be led by the spirit, to have Christ’s mission forged in our mind and the more serious we are,the more those who hate Christ will work against us. Do not be afraid however, It is all part of God’s plan and we have to forge our work in that plan more than worry about those who seek to undermine it or us.

Take this day to renew not only your own baptism but to renew a commitment to Christ that will empower you to do his work even more.

God bless you,

Fr. Robert J Carr

Fr. Carr is an alliance member of the New Song Community (Canção Nova). He is the pastor of Holy Trinity Quincy, MA and is the editor of this blog. He is the author of several books, blogs and hundreds of videos all of which you may find on Youtube.  You can follow him on twitter as @frbobcarr and on Google plus as+FrRobertCarr. Thoughts, comments on the homily? Let us know at Facebook