Dear people of good will!
The baptism we celebrate today was not an event as we celebrate it today in the sacrament, but a public call for conversion. When John the Baptist calls the people to baptism, John calls for a conversion of heart. This means changing the previous way of life. The verb “to convert” in the Greek original (in which the Gospel is written) signifies a complete change of direction. In John’s call, this signifies a radical change of consciousness. John here refers to the Old Testament prophets, who warn, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew’s Gospel). John himself did not yet fully understand the way the sent Messiah would act, but he announces Him with a call for the conversion of the HEART, which means first of all, his own opinion, understanding, and way of thinking. John was in a crisis of faith when he heard Jesus speak of forgiveness and reconciliation and love for all, and did not act as John had announced Him to be: “He has a fan in his hand.”
God's call to convert our attitudes and thoughts gains strength when we see that this call no longer comes to us through prophets - messengers, but God decides to speak directly through His own mouth, becoming incarnate in man.
A person who does not want to change himself into the image of God rejects both the holiday of Christmas and God himself. A Christian is not made and remains a Christian only by words, but by a daily and sincere commitment to God, who 'came down from heaven'. By neglecting God and His Word, we become more like hypocrites than Christians. As Christians, we have been 'given more' by God to understand and put into practice, but unfortunately, we have been overtaken in this - according to Jesus' prophecy - by 'tax collectors, harlots and sinners'.
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