Removing the Stain

Gospel: John 3: 22-30

There are a plethora of immaculate conceptions who walk about in our midst, people who assert that they have no regrets, a self-defense mechanism for fragile psyches that is of itself an utter lie.  Every person has regrets, actions and words that have harmed other people.  Every person has sinned and deprived of the glory of God.  If the just man sins seven times a day, what of us who are not so just? Each human being has need of repentance, regeneration, and cleansing.

Hence the various purification rituals in the Jewish tradition.  From the rituals associated with the keeping of a kosher kitchen to the ritual ablutions of entering the Temple mount and synagogue, the Jewish tradition reminds one continually of one's need for cleansing and repentance.  This idea becomes the core message of the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus as they go about baptizing people in a ritual bath recalling the waters of creation, of the Red Sea, the flood of Noah, and the waters of the Jordan.  

Today we remember our need for repentance, regeneration, and renewal.  We remember the waters of our own baptism in using holy water on entering a church or in our own prayer life.  We continue to seek forgiveness and wholeness as we recommit to the mission of Jesus to bring healing, liberation, and nourishment to others in the work of mercy and loving kindness - in actions that bring regeneration and wholeness to others and to ourselves.