Msgr. Roger J. Landry
National Catholic Register
January 11, 2026
From the moment Jesus was about to ascend into heaven, when he gathered his disciples on the mountain, the Church has understood that Baptism is inseparable from mission. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,” the Lord commanded, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19). This was not a suggestion for a later time or an optional task for the zealous or select few. It was a foundational mandate of the Church, given by the Risen Lord himself.
St. John the Baptist, whose baptisms in the Jordan signified the need for the forgiveness of sins but actually couldn’t deliver that interior cleansing, spoke of the different kind of baptism the faithful were eventually to receive after him, from Jesus and his Church: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire!” (Mt 3:11). That fire of the Holy Spirit, which doesn’t just symbolize the need for forgiveness but has the power to take away a person’s sins, is meant to spread to the ends of the earth. That purification is a necessary part of the salvation Jesus himself brings: Without it, one cannot enter into life with Jesus. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,” Jesus himself says (Mk 16:16).
St. Francis Xavier, the greatest missionary in Church history after St. Paul, understood this with compelling clarity. Carried by love for the Lord and zeal for the salvation of others, he crossed oceans to bring the Good News to those who had never heard the name of Jesus. He baptized tens of thousands, because he believed what the Church has always taught: Baptism — or at least its effects — is necessary for salvation, and, once baptized, we’re sent to help bring others to baptism and to help them learn to observe everything Christ has commanded.
There is sometimes the temptation to reduce Baptism a cultural rite of passage, a family celebration or a private spiritual moment. The Church, however, teaches something far more demanding and beautiful. Baptism is the sacrament of new birth, through which we are invited into the interpersonal communion of the Blessed Trinity, become a living member of Christ’s body, and made a part of the Church’s continuation of Christ’s mission. Baptism makes us missionary disciples in communion with God and each other.
The Second Vatican Council, whose teachings Pope Leo XIV has just begun to review in his Wednesday General Audiences, drives this point home. In Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, the Council Fathers taught that through Baptism the faithful are incorporated into the People of God and made sharers in Christ’s priestly, prophetic and kingly offices. This threefold participation is not symbolic. It is real, sacramental and enduring. It defines who we are and how we are meant to live.
The rite of Baptism itself preaches this mission with definitive language. Before water is poured, before the Trinitarian formula is spoken, the Church asks a decisive question: “What do you ask of God’s Church for [your child]?” The answer is not success, happiness or even holiness in some vague sense. The answer is “Baptism,” which can be supplemented with the words “faith” and “eternal life,” to which baptism is meant to lead. During the rest of the rite, parents and godparents alike make the commitment to raise the child in the practice of the faith, to help them learn how to love God and neighbor as Christ has commanded. From Jesus’ words in the Great Commission to the baptisms occurring today, Baptism is meant to lead to teaching others not just to observe — not just to know — all that Jesus has commanded us. Baptism presupposes this formation and mission.
Through the anointing with Sacred Chrism, the baptized is configured to Jesus as priest, prophet and king, three different missionary responsibilities aligned with our union with Christ.
As “priest,” each of the baptized is called to offer his or her life as a spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God. This priesthood is exercised above all by worship, by prayer and a life united to Jesus’ Eucharistic sacrifice. In the rite of Baptism, a candle is lit from the Paschal Candle, and the words are spoken: “Receive the light of Christ.” This light is not meant to flicker briefly and fade. It is to be kept burning, like the lamps of the wise virgins, ready to welcome the Bridegroom when he comes. Christ is the Light of the World and to live our baptismal priesthood involves reflecting the light of his sacrificial love.
As “prophet,” each of the baptized is called to proclaim the Gospel by word and by witness. This prophetic mission is not reserved only to preachers or missionaries but belongs to every Christian. In the baptismal rite, the mouth and ears of the baptized are blessed so that the Word of God might be heard and proclaimed with faith. The baptized person is sent into the world as a listener and doer of the Word, speaking the truth of Christ with clarity and charity.
As “king,” the baptized is called to share in Christ’s royal mission, which is revealed not in domination but in service. Christ reigns from the Cross. To be anointed king in Baptism is to learn how to govern one’s own life according to the Gospel, to resist sin and to serve others in love. This royal dignity finds reinforcement in the Sacrament of Confirmation, when the baptized receives on the crown of the head — just as kings and queens do in coronations — the anointing efficaciously signifying the seal of the Holy Spirit so that the Christian can govern himself and others in communion with Christ the King. The anointed Christian is sent to help build up the kingdom of God, shaping the world according to God’s will, beginning with his own decisions, relationships and responsibilities.
Baptism is a divine act. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are made true children of God, sons and daughters in the Son by the Holy Spirit. God the Father claims us as his own and pronounces us his beloved son or daughter in whom he is well pleased. “See what love the Father has bestowed upon us in letting us be called children of God,” St. John exclaimed to the first Christians, “but that is what we are” (1 Jn 3:1).
This is one reason why Baptism will never be just one religious path among many options. It is the ordinary means by which God brings us into the saving mystery of Christ’s death and Resurrection. The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to Baptism as vitae spiritualis ianua, the door of the spiritual life, which gives access to God and to all of the other sacraments (1213). At the same time, Baptism places an inescapable responsibility upon those who have received it. The baptized should never retreat into private faith or comfortable religiosity. As children of God, we are sent out to give witness to God the Father’s love, God the Son’s saving work, God the Holy Spirit’s gifts and works.
Missionaries to the nations are reminders of this. They give their lives to spread the faith and to form Christian communities through baptism leading to Eucharistic communion. We should have a similar commitment, even if our mission does not unfold across continents, but happens within our own families, parishes and workplaces. Christ has entrusted his saving mission to the Church, which means to all the baptized. He has entrusted it to us.
The celebration of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord this Sunday focuses our attention of what Jesus did as soon as the waters of the Jordan dried: he made a 40 day retreat in immediate preparation for his public ministry and then emerged preaching, “Repent and believe,” teaching, healing, exorcising and saving.
As we ponder how his baptism in the Jordan sanctified the waters that made possible our baptismal regeneration, it’s also a clear reminder that our baptism is meant to lead to our prayer and public ministry, too. That’s why of the reasons why the most popular Gospel reading for baptismal ceremonies involves Jesus’ words sending the Church out to baptize and teach, knowing that he is with us always until the end of time.
As many of us prepare to renew our baptismal promises on the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism, let’s similarly renew the missionary commitment that flows from it.