Psalm Reflection: The Baptism of the Lord - Cycle C

“The Lord will bless his people with peace.” - Psalms 29

This past week, my wife, who is a professor, and my children were still on break from school, so they went up to stay with my in-laws in the mountains for a few nights while I went back to work. I had the house completely to myself. 

What did I do with all this free quiet time in the house, you ask? 

I cleaned.

I organized.

And it was glorious.

I know I talk about cleaning a lot, but I love it. It occupies my mind and my attention with something constructive and gives me the feeling of accomplishment. Purging our home and my life of things we do not need automatically helps me to feel more spiritually settled and at rest.

However, that peace is always temporary. I know we will get more stuff. Things will get cluttered and dirty again. No system I have for keeping things organized and clean will work forever. So, as peaceful as it may make things in the short-term, I know that it will not last and I will be organizing again in a few months.

The peace that I can get from the world or what I can do will always be temporary. The Psalmist this week reminds us that “the Lord will bless his people with peace.” It is a guarantee, He will do it. It is not a maybe, or a condition that is dependent on how things are going, it is a promise that cannot be taken away. He fulfilled this promise when He took on flesh and died on the cross for our sins.

You may be asking, then, “if Jesus already fulfilled this promise, why don’t I feel peace?”

The gift is not automatic. It is freely given, but it must be freely chosen and freely received. If we have not professed Jesus as our Lord and Savior and received the gift of salvation through baptism, we will not experience it. Even if we have done those things, it will not be automatic, we have to confirm our heart to the Lord’s will every day.

If we are looking instead to the promises of the world to give us peace, then we will keep chasing the temporary satisfaction of money, success, fame, pleasure, status, appearance and popularity until we realize that none of it completes us.

This Sunday is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Even though Christ did not need to be forgiven, He submitted to Baptism to show us the way and to be an example for us. The waters did not baptize Christ, but Christ baptized the waters for us.

If we want to feel the peace we are meant to experience from Christ, we must seek Him instead of chasing after fleeting sources of earthly satisfaction that are always temporary and incomplete. 

We must live out the faith and promises of our baptism to die to the world and rise in Christ. When we turn to the world for our happiness, we are turning back to death and our old way of life. We are re-cluttering our soul with things that do not belong there.

Take some time in prayer this week to clean and organize your heart. Reflect on your desires and motivations.

Why do you do the things that you do?

What are you looking for when you turn to earthly things?

What in life truly completes and satisfies you?

Where do you need to step back and where do you need to lean in?

Who or what steals your peace? Who or what contributes to it?

Rid your life and your heart of unnecessary clutter so you can experience the only lasting peace there is.

The Lord will bless you with peace.

I am praying for you, please pray for me, and I will see you in the Eucharist.

Matt

This reflection is based on the Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday, January 12th, 2025, The Baptism of the Lord - Cycle C: Psalms 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10.