The Super Bowl is fast approaching and with it, the Super Bowl halftime show.  The Super Bowl halftime show has become a source of internal conflict for me.  The musicians who will perform during halftime this year are not performers with whom I’m familiar; however, I would not want to see performers with whom I’m familiar try to perform at halftime.  The musicians and singers with whom I’m familiar are much too old to attempt a Super Bowl halftime performance. 

The only way for me to resolve this internal conflict is to develop an appreciation for the performers scheduled or to choose not to watch the performance.  All experiences of conflict require such a decision, including the one described in today’s Gospel reading.   

The event of Jesus’ baptism has always caused some conflict in the minds of his disciples.  Why would Jesus accept a baptism of repentance?  He would have known, better than most, that he had no need of repentance.  Was his baptism a mistake?  Or was it merely pointless?  Today’s first reading, from Chapter 40 of the Book of prophet Isaiah, provides insight to help us understand the meaning and necessity of Jesus’ baptism by John. 

Hebrew religion has often used the image of “leaving” to describe the significant events by which God offered the People peace and well-being.  Abraham left his homeland to follow God’s will.  The patriarchs left a nomadic life and settled in Egypt to escape famine.  In the Exodus event, the People left Egypt to gain religious freedom and a homeland of their own.  Today’s first reading describes their impending departure from exile in Babylon and their eventual return to the Land of Promise.   

In each case, God’s People left one location for another, but they also left a lesser experience of God for a greater one.  In the Gospel reading, Jesus left the company of John the Baptist in order to begin his own ministry of teaching and healing.  Jesus’ baptism, while something of a conundrum, marks the end of his private life and the beginning of his public ministry. 

The pattern of leaving a lesser experience of God for the sake of a greater one occurs in the lives of Jesus’ disciples, as well.  The beginning of the life of faith occurs when God calls us to leave sinful behavior and move into a renewed life of faith and virtue.  The process of conversion, however, is not restricted solely to leaving sinfulness.  Growth in faith is experienced as a call to leave lesser faith and virtue in order to gain greater faith and virtue.   

The multifaceted experience of conversion is reflected in a central value in Catholicism.  Catholicism gives primary attention to pursuing greater holiness, the greater good, and a greater practice of virtue.  This contrast between the lesser and the greater helps us avoid both obsessiveness and passivity.  As there is no perfection to be had in this life, success in the life of faith is not an achievement but a lifelong project. 

There is an old saying that “God has no grandchildren.”  The saying means that one does not inherit faith; it isn’t passed on genetically or automatically.  Faith is each person’s conscious choice, or not. 

The event of Jesus’ Baptism teaches us that God has only one perfect child, Jesus; the rest of us are children in training.  We remain God’s children to the degree to which we remain engaged actively in living more fully and convincingly our adoption through Baptism.   

Being God’s child by adoption through Baptism requires the lifelong pursuit of greater holiness, the greater good, and a greater practice of virtue.  Those who remain in the lifelong vocation of discipleship have the experience of knowing God’s presence in their lives.  If you are among this company, you have certainty about receiving God’s mercy. 

On the other hand, if you feel as if your religious practice has grown a little stale or boring or lacking in sense, there’s a good reason for this.  The experience of feeling conflicted about religion is an indicator of the need for ongoing repentance and growth in faith.  Everyone, throughout their lives, faces the choice I mentioned above about the Super Bowl halftime show: one has to embrace changed circumstances or one has to abandon them.  In matters of faith and morals, Catholicism requires the former and rejects the latter. 

If you find that faith and religious practice have become a source of conflict for you, this might be a call to conversion and an indication that it’s time to move from a lesser experience of God’s presence to a greater one.  Like all conversion experiences, this requires regret about one’s present state and then, active pursuit of something greater. 

Jesus’ baptism and Christian Baptism are once-in-a-lifetime events that intend to have lasting consequences.  Jesus’ baptism was symbolic of his complete acceptance of human nature and human nature’s limitations.  He gave witness to these commitments in his teaching, his miracles, and his death.  Christian Baptism is our commitment to leave behind sin and faithlessness, and we are obliged to give witness to our commitment by our daily pursuit of greater holiness, the greater good, and a greater practice of virtue.