Baptism of the Lord (Cycle A, Year II)

Community Word:  True Christian disciples rise up and search diligently for Jesus, the Truth  and the Light.

Theme:  True Christian disciples always do what is pleasing to God.

Promise: “I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations.”
(Is 42:6)

Reflection:       

“…This is my Son, the Beloved; he is my Chosen One.” (Matthew 3:17)

Today, the Church begins the First Sunday in Ordinary Time with the Lord’s baptism at the Jordan River.  It also marks the last feast in the Christmas season in the Church calendar before Lent.

The first reading is the first of the four songs of the Suffering Servant in the Book of Isaiah.  “‘Here is my servant, whom I uphold,’ says the Lord, “my chosen, in whom my soul delights’” (Isaiah 42:1).  Before we learn what he was called to do, however, we are told who he was called to be.  He had to be a man of character – gentle and compassionate, but strong and firm in his resolve.  “A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench …He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth…” (Isaiah 42:3,4).   From the beginning of time, he was set “…as a covenant of the people” (Isaiah 42:6b).

Jesus stood in the line with sinners, though he is without sin.  He waited to be baptized by John.  “John tried to prevent him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?’  But Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness ’” (Matthew 3:14-15).  This is how, Jesus shows us the way of humility.  He came quietly, with the many sinners who were receiving the baptism of repentance.  But his reception of John’s baptism in humility and anonymity should not blind us to the significance of the event.  Jesus wants to be considered “one” with everyone, for in him God shows no partiality.  “Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:36).

And this is how Jesus is seen as the Messiah, to the fulfillment of the Prophets before him.  This humble act had far greater consequences.  Even though he did not use his divine prerogatives, his choice is affirmed by the voice from heaven: “…This is my Son, the Beloved; he is my Chosen One” (Matthew 3:17).  This gave Jesus his mission, as Son and Servant of the Father. In his humility, the Theme for this week finds fulfillment:  “True Christian disciples always do what is pleasing to God.”

Matthew paints a dramatic portrait of the event of Jesus’ baptism:  the heavens were opened to him, and the mystery of the Trinity was made manifest.  Jesus the sinless one identifies himself with our fallen humanity and because of his obedience to the Father’s will for him, Jesus shows himself to be the Servant of the Lord whose death resulted in the outpouring of the Spirit on us all.

Likewise, we who have been baptized into Christ have received this Spirit.  And, like most Christians, we do not have a first-hand experience of our own baptism.  This is so because most of us were baptized in infancy.  In BLD, we renew our baptism and get to experience what we call “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” in our LSS.  Baptism then is not just a personal initiation into the Church, but rather a continuation of the new creation coming to all of us through the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

Baptism is the beginning of greater intimacy with God. It is a relationship that grows in intensity as we grow spiritually.  The new life we now enjoy is that of being God’s adopted children.  Still, as St. John assures us, this adoption is no legal fiction, as when children are legally adopted, but a spiritual reality:  “See what love the Father has given us, that we should become children of God: and so we are” (1Jn.3:1).  If we are truly children of God in a spiritual sense, then we must in some way share in the nature and life of God.  What a great privilege!  Then we too can hear the Father say of us,“This is my beloved”.  To be God’s beloved is not just the vocation of holy and religious people; to be God’s beloved is not merely an opportunity for the chosen few.  Few may respond, but everyone is called to be God’s chosen…God’s beloved.  Sadly most of us settle for less, a lifeless relationship in which God and self are kept at a “safe” distance, as though we are afraid of divine intimacy.

Let us today reexamine our baptism in the light of Jesus’ baptism for us.  We were baptized into Jesus’ death.  If we die with him, we also rise with him, forgiven and filled with divine life.  Everything has been given to us in Christ!  We must only continue, daily, to surrender to the Lord and look for the work of the Spirit in our lives.  Jesus’ attentiveness is one we need to cultivate if we are to see ourselves as God’s beloved.  It means opening ourselves to God’s heart so that our own hearts may become more expansive to do our own mission today … “I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations.” (Is 42:6)

Prayer:
Father, we thank you for calling us to be your children.  May the indwelling Holy Spirit given to us in baptism empower us become your true witnesses and light in the darkened world in which we live today.

Reflection Questions:
1. Share your own experience when you received your Baptism in the Spirit during your LSS.
How can you compare this with Jesus’ own?

2. Is there a particular mission you think God wants you to do?  What do you think are the blocks
that may impede this mission? (e.g. unforgiveness, character flaw, pride etc…). What can you do to progress
in your spiritual life?
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
January 12, 2013 (Sun)    Is 42:1-4,6-7/Ps 29:1,2,3,4.3,9-10/Acts 10:34-48/Mt 3:13-17
January 13, 2013 (Mon)   1Sm 1:1-8/Ps 116:12,13,14,17,18,9/Mk 1:14-20
January 14, 2013 (Tues)  1Sm 1:19-20/1Sm 2:1,4,5,6,7,8/Mk 1:21-28
January 15, 2013 (Wed)  1Sm 3:1-10,19-20/Ps 40:2-5,7,8,8-9,10/Mk 1:29-39
January 16, 2013 (Thur)  1Sm 4:1-11/Ps 44:10-11,14-15,24-25/Mk 1:40-45
January 17, 2013 (Fri)     1Sm 8:4-7,10-22/Ps 89:16-17,18-19/Mk 2:1-12
January 18, 2013 (Sat)    1Sm 9:1-4,17-19,10:1/Ps 21:2-3,4-5,6-7/Mk 2:13-17

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ.  Read your Bible daily!”

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