The Parish Priest of Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish, Ahmadu Bello University, Samaru Zaria, Rev Fr Sebastian Vincent charged his parishioners to emulate the humility of Jesus and John the Baptist His forerunner. He gave this charge in his parish on the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus on Sunday, 9th January, 2022.
The priest noted that both Jesus and John the Baptist were epitomes of humility who defiled the temptation to exalt themselves before the appointed time and encouraged the faithful to adopt and duplicate the virtue of humility for peace of the world. “The people in our first reading (Is.40:1-5,9-11) were worried like some of us today,” he said.
“They were also looking forward to a time that God will save them. The reading tells us that someone is coming to save us and to gather us like a shepherd gathers his sheep. He is coming to level the mountains and valleys in our lives – Jesus is coming to calm the storms in our lives and to do exactly what John tells us in Jn.10:10-11.
“The second reading tells us that baptism gives us the glory of adoption which cannot be taken away from us, except we take it away ourselves. Jesus had to condescend to our level to fulfill all righteousness. He approved of John’s baptism and ministry by making John to baptize Him in order to give him relevance. He was so humble that He did not claim equality with God, even though He was God Himself. He is our perfect example and paragon of humility.
“John was also humble enough to accept his position. Imagine, if it were some of us today, they would have said ‘na me be Jesus.’
“Everyone is looking for relevance and attention but you need to know where you stand. The unfortunate reality is that some of us do not know what we have in the Church. John the Baptist knew where he was standing. He pointed the Lamb to his disciples and he was not disturbed when some of his own disciples left him for Jesus.”
Catechizing that the Sacrament of Baptism paves way for other sacraments and that it integrates and inculcates one into the family of God’s people, the priest observed that some people are already worried about the New Year.
He informed the faithful of the Friend and Brother they have in Jesus, the First Son in God’s Family, and told them to banish worry from their heart because “the God who allowed you to step into this year will take care of you. The will of God will not take you where His grace will not sustain you. Since it is His decision to bring you into this year, His grace will sustain you throughout this year. Just begin the year with a million determination,” the priest said.