This Week in Catholic Liturgy: Take the Plunge

The Lord Jesus undergoes Baptism not because of His need, but because of ours: the absolute need to surrender ourselves entirely, even to death (as He did), in order to experience life everlasting (as He does).  With the Spirit's anointing for mission, we are identified as His beloved, we are entrusted with a task, and we are equipped for that task.  The initial effort may not have been ours (if our parents subjected us to those drowning waters), but there comes a time when we set out on our Jerusalem journey, determined to live and die "for the Lord" (Rom 14:8), one encounter at a time.