Offering his reflections on the Theophany of the Lord, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel noted that through the words, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’, the Heavenly Father also referred to the entire humankind which through Baptism was immersed in the grace and love of the Holy Trinity.
Therefore, the patriarch said, ‘the eternal love of God the Father for His Son now includes His love for the humanity that Jesus assumed.’
‘In the waters of Jordan River, our Saviour Jesus Christ encompassed us in the eternal love of the Most Holy Trinity,’ the Patriarch added.
That is why, Baptism is not a sprinkling with water, but an immersion in the water full of Holy Spirit.
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel presided over the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great at the Sts Constantine and Helen Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest on Sunday, January 6, 2019.
Concelebrants for the Divine Liturgy included His Beatitude’s auxiliary bishops Varlaam of Ploiesti and Ieronim of Sinaia.
Eternal relationship with God
Patriarch Daniel said that ‘when we are baptised, we start a new relationship with God, namely an eternal relationship,’ adding that ‘eternal life is not the afterlife, but the life lived in a communion of love with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.’
The Patriarch cited St John Chrysostom’s reflections on the Theophany of the Lord saying that ‘the heavens were opened to show that the heavens were opened at your own baptism and that you were mystically confessed by the Father as His beloved son or daughter.’
Confession rhythms church life
His Beatitude said that ‘the entire life of the Church is rhythmed by these words: Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages.’
‘Every blessing work of the Church is performed in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, meaning in the love, the grace, and the presence of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,’ Patriarch Daniel said Jan. 6.
Holy Spirit
The Romanian Patriarch spoke about the divine Person of the Holy Spirit who appeared at the Baptism of the Lord, saying that He has no countenance.
The Holy Spirit ‘shows Himself under various forms so that it won’t compete with the image of Christ.’
‘The Holy Spirit does not take a human form, but He is mystically present and working in every Christian, helping them to model their image to resemble Christ.’
‘The Holy Spirit does not appear as an opposite, He is rather something interior to man, beginning with baptism,’ the patriarch said.
Ending his speech, the Patriarch urged that ‘when we will taste the Holy Water, let us think about the Lord’s Baptism and our own baptism, thanking the Holy Trinity that through Baptism we plunged, we immersed ourselves in the eternal love, in the life-giving grace of the Holy Trinity.’
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