About Aqua-Aerobics

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)

Readings: Isaiah 49:3, 5-6; Psalm 39 (40): 2, 4, 7-10; 1 Corinthians 1: 1-3; John 1: 29-34

Picture: By Documerica on Unsplash

What would happen if we were to immerse ourselves in a swimming pool, while carrying a heavy backpack? Isn’t the backpack likely to feel much lighter? And we know why. The water helps lift the load off our shoulders. Actually, not only does the backpack feel lighter in the water, our own body does too. Isn’t this why low-impact water-based exercises like aqua-aerobics are so helpful, particularly for those who may have issues with their joints?… The amazing burden-relieving power of water. Isn’t this something like what our scriptures invite us to ponder, on this 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time?

In the gospel, John the Baptist catches sight of Jesus, and excitedly invites everyone to look at the One who takes away the sin of the world? And it may be helpful for us to recall that the word translated as takes away can also indicate the act of lifting a burden. For example, in Mark’s gospel (15:21), this same word is used to describe what happens to Simon of Cyrene on the road to Calvary. He is forced to carry Jesus’ cross. To bear, or to lift, the Lord’s burden. So sin is likened to a burden, which Jesus comes to lift or remove from our shoulders. The same burden that the Baptist himself has been encouraging everyone to let go, by repenting and being baptised in the waters of the Jordan. And yet, John knows very well that neither he nor the water has power to wash away sin. To be able to do that, the water must first be infused with the Holy Spirit. Which is what the Fathers of the Church believed happens when Jesus is baptised. Instead of being cleansed by the water, he makes the water clean, and spiritually powerful.

Even more, as we likely already had occasion to recall last week, we believe that the Lord’s baptism in the Jordan points to his own immersion in the beautiful yet chaotic waters of our human reality. Not just by his Birth as a helpless baby at Christmas. But also by his Death as a condemned criminal on Good Friday. Before he is raised to New Life at Easter. Which helps us better understand what happens to us at our baptism. We believe that the baptismal water has power to set us free from the burden of sin, not so much because of the water itself, but because of what the act of being washed in it signifies: our solemn commitment, made before witnesses, to continually immerse ourselves in the sacred and cleansing waters of the Life of Christ. The Word of God, sent by the Father, and anointed by the Spirit. The lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

Not only that, our scriptures also offer us two further ways of describing this great and powerful mystery. In the first reading, taken from one of Isaiah’s moving Songs of the Suffering Servant, beyond being simply a restorer of the scattered tribes of Jacob, God promises to make God’s servant the light of the nations. The One who has power to remove the burden of spiritual blindness and ignorance. And isn’t this what, by our baptism, we promise to let Jesus be for us? To allow his Life, Death and Resurrection to continually illuminate our path. Helping us not only to distinguish between good and evil. But also, whenever necessary, to make the difficult choice for the greater good over the lesser. And not to be deceived when evil tries to masquerade as good. Such as when Peter tries to dissuade Jesus from submitting to the Cross (Mk 8:32). Or when Judas scolds Mary of Bethany for anointing Jesus’ feet with costly perfume. Asking why the perfume wasn’t sold, and the money given to the poor (Jn 15:5).

To let Jesus become the Light that illuminates our path is, of course, also to accept him as our Leader and Master. Or, even better, to ascribe to him the title used by St Paul in the second reading. To acknowledge Jesus as Lord. To accept ever more fully his authority over the whole of our lives. Allowing him to direct and orientate our daily decisions. And so to release us from the crushing burden borne by the crowds that Jesus encountered in his public ministry. Those described in Matthew’s gospel as being harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Mt 9:36).

A Lamb who takes away the burden of our sin. A Light who lifts from us the burden of blindness and ignorance. A Lord who frees us from the burden of being oppressed and disoriented, like sheep without a shepherd. Isn’t this what we all need so much today? Labouring as we do under many and different burdens. Not least of all a global economy that the late Pope Francis describes as one that kills (EG, 53)? And isn’t this the precious gift that John the Baptist is encouraging everyone to recognise and receive in the gospel? And also what we ourselves will be invited to acknowledge later in this very Mass. When we hear, addressed to us, the words, Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world?

Actually, in aqua-aerobics, the water doesn’t just serve to provide buoyancy, to lighten one’s burden. It also offers needed resistance. Not a resistance that oppresses and destroys, but one that restores and strengthens. Sisters and brothers, how might we help one another to gratefully receive this same blessed buoyancy and resistance from the Lord today?