1 out of every 3 baptisms in the world takes place in mission territoriesMaterial element, human gestures and words in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation.During the audience Pope Francis invited us to reflect "on the Holy Spirit who comes upon Jesus in the baptism in the Jordan. In being poured out on Christ, the Paraclete "is diffused from him into his body, which is the Church".
Francis pointed out that "the whole Trinity gathered at that moment on the banks of the Jordan", thus being "a fundamental moment of Revelation and of the history of salvation". It is not surprising, therefore, that this passage is recounted by all the evangelists.
The Church as the new People of God
The Pontiff explained that the Baptism of the Lord has a special importance because at that moment Christ "receives the fullness of the gift of the Spirit for his mission which, as head, he will communicate to his body which is the Church". And thanks to this, "the Church is the new 'royal, prophetic and priestly people'".
The Pope insisted on this idea saying that "Christ is the head, our High Priest, the Holy Spirit is the perfumed oil and the Church is the body of Christ in which it is diffused".
Spreading the good smell of Christ
However, the Holy Father said that "unfortunately, sometimes Christians do not spread the fragrance of Christ, but the bad odor of their own sin". In spite of everything, the Pontiff continued, "this should not distract us from our commitment to carry out, to the extent of our possibilities and each one in his own environment, this sublime vocation of being the good odor of Christ in the world".
In this way, Francis concluded, Christians will spread throughout the world "the fruits of the Spirit, which are 'love, joy, peace, magnanimity, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control'". Perhaps then, "without our being aware of it, someone will feel something of the fragrance of the Spirit of Christ around us".
