The Lives of the Saints
1. THEOPHANY
When the Lord Jesus had completed thirty years from His bodily birth, He began His teaching and salvific work. And Himself, the beginning of the beginning He marked by baptism in the Jordan. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem says: "The beginning of the world is water, the beginning of the Gospel is the Jordan." At the baptism of the Lord in the water, that mystery was revealed to the world which had been foreshadowed in the Old Testament, about which only fables were told in ancient Egypt and India, namely the mystery of the divine Holy Trinity. The Father manifested Himself to the sense of hearing, the Spirit manifested Himself to the sense of sight, and the Son manifested Himself in addition also to the sense of touch. The Father pronounced His testimony about the Son. The Son was baptized in the water and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove hovered over the water. And when John the Baptist bore witness and said of Christ: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29) and when he immersed and baptized the Lord in the Jordan, thereby both the mission of Christ in the world and the path of our salvation were shown. Namely: the Lord took upon Himself the sins of the human race and under them died (the immersion) and came to life (the coming out of the water); and we must die as the old sinful man and come to life as purified, renewed and reborn. This is the Savior, and this is the path of salvation. The Feast of Theophany (Theophania, Greek) enlightens by showing us God as Trinity, consubstantial and undivided. That is one thing. And the second: for each of us is enlightened by baptism in water by becoming adopted by the Father of Light, through the merit of the Son and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
“The beginning of the world is water, the beginning of the Gospel is the Jordan.”
Hymn of Praise
O holy Lord, holy in creation,
All that by the Word Thou createst, by the Spirit sanctifiest.
O mighty Lord, mighty in suffering,
For the world Thou goest unto death, for the world Thou risest.
O immortal Lord, we sing to Thee aloud:
Father, Son, Spirit—O God, have mercy on us!
O Father who didst manifest Thyself by voice above the Jordan,
O Spirit who like a milky dove didst fly,
O Son who wast baptized by the prophet John,
Three rays of light, yet one light shone,
O Trinity revealed, we sing to Thee aloud:
Father, Son, Spirit—O God, have mercy on us!
Reflection
Once upon a time heretical fables troubled the Church of God, and now godless fables trouble her. By steadfastness in the faith, by diligent prayer, by confession and even by martyrdom that trouble was overcome. Only by those means will this new trouble be overcome. And the Church of God, the vessel of divine Truth, will triumph in the end, for in the end the devil's weapons shall fail (Psalm 9:6). Blessed Clement of Alexandria said of the heretics who abandoned the church: "He who has fallen into heresy travels through a dry wilderness, abandoning the one true God; separated from God he seeks waterless water, gathers barrenness with his hands, enters an uninhabited and thirsty land." The same today can be said of many scientific hypothesizers and theorizers who are guided by their own imagination and not by God's truth.
Contemplation
Contemplate the event of the Lord's baptism, namely:
1. His humble coming to the Jordan, unknown to all except John;
2. His immersion in the water; the fluttering of the dove above Him and the voice from on high.
Homily
on the mysterious divine Trinity
**For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one** (I John 5:7-8)
When we read Holy Scripture we must vigilantly watch every word. To the hasty reader, for example, the difference which the Evangelist draws between the heavenly trinity and the earthly trinity will not catch the eye. For the heavenly trinity he says: and these three are one, and for the earthly: and these three agree in one. There is an enormous difference between being one and being together. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one, while the spirit and the water and the blood are only together, and not one. For even enemies can be together but not one. All people on earth are together but are not one. Water and blood make up the body, and the spirit is spirit. The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh (Galatians 5:17); they are not, therefore, one, but they are nevertheless together. And when a person dies, the togetherness is severed and ceases: the blood and water go to one side, and the spirit to the other. Whereas the divine trinity in the heavens is not only together but also one. But there is one trinity in the inner heaven of man, which must be not a togetherness but a unity, that man might be blessed both in this world and in that world. That is the unity of mind, heart and will. As long as these three are only in togetherness, man is at war both with himself and with the heavenly Trinity. But when these three become one, so that none rules and none serves, then man becomes filled with a peace which passeth all understanding (Philippians 4:7), all words, all explanation, all fear and all sorrow. Then the little heaven in man begins to resemble the great heaven of God, and the image and likeness of God becomes then clear in man.
O Lord, Trinity, help us to resemble at least those who resemble Thee. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“There is an enormous difference between being one and being together.”