The Feast of The Baptism of The Lord “Jesus begins his public life after having himself baptised by Saint John the Baptist in the Jordan. After His resurrection Christ gives this mission to his apostles: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.’ (Mt 28: 19-20).
Our Lord voluntarily submitted himself to the baptism of St. John, intended for sinners, in order to ‘fulfil all righteousness’. (Mt. 3:15) Jesus’s gesture is a manifestation of his self-emptying. (cf. Phil 2 : 7) The spirit who had hovered over the waters of the first creation descended then on the Christ as a prelude of the new creation, and the Father revealed Jesus as his ‘beloved Son’. (Mt.3: 16-17)
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church nn.1223-1224.