The Baptism of the Lord
(First Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Readings for The Baptism of the Lord[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading I: Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Is 42:1-4, 6-7
Isaiah’s oracle brings us almost the exact words spoken by God as Jesus walks out of the Jordan following his baptism. He goes on in the first paragraph to describe the compassionate and loving character of Jesus. In the second paragraph Isaiah focuses on the new covenant established with the people with the advent of the Messiah.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
the rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Go up on to a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by a strong arm;
here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Is 40:1-5, 9-11
In this second option from Isaiah we are given first the prophetic vision of John the Baptist; “A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!” The prophecy then announces the coming of the Messiah and what a blessing he will be to the people.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10
R. (11b) The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Give to the LORD, you sons of God,
give to the LORD glory and praise,
Give to the LORD the glory due his name;
adore the LORD in holy attire.R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters,
the LORD, over vast waters.
The voice of the LORD is mighty;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The God of glory thunders,
and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
The LORD is enthroned above the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as king forever.R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10
This psalm selection focuses our attention on the baptismal font as it addresses in two of the three strophes the water theme.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or: Psalm 104:1b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30
R. (1) O bless the Lord, my soul.
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
You are clothed with majesty and glory,
robed in light as with a cloak.
You have spread out the heavens like a tent-cloth;R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
You have constructed your palace upon the waters.
You make the clouds your chariot;
you travel on the wings of the wind.
You make the winds your messengers,
and flaming fire your ministers.R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
How manifold are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you have wrought them all -
the earth is full of your creatures;
the sea also, great and wide,
in which are schools without number
of living things both small and great.R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
They look to you to give them food in due time.
When you give it to them, they gather it;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
If you take away their breath, they perish and return to the dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 104:1b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30
In the second psalm option we hear the song of praise again mentioning, in the second strophe, God’s throne above the waters. There is also a reference to rebirth in God whose Holy Spirit is a creative force.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading II: Acts 10:34-38
Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered
in the house of Cornelius, saying:
“In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.
You know the word that he sent to the Israelites
as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all,
what has happened all over Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism
that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.”------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Acts 10:34-38
In this selection from Acts, Peter is sounding very much like Paul, saying that God is for every one not just the Israelites. He then launches into the Good News which he starts with a description of the Baptism of the Lord and how the Holy Spirit descended.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or: Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7
Beloved:
The grace of God has appeared, saving all
and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires
and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age,
as we await the blessed hope,
the appearance of the glory of our great God
and savior Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness
and to cleanse for himself a people as his own,
eager to do what is good.
When the kindness and generous love
of God our savior appeared,
not because of any righteous deeds we had done
but because of his mercy,
He saved us through the bath of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
whom he richly poured out on us
through Jesus Christ our savior,
so that we might be justified by his grace
and become heirs in hope of eternal life.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ti 2:11-14; 3:4-7
The letter to Titus speaks to the message he is to take to the Cretans. The first verses (11-14) are almost a hymn of praise, blessing God for his gift of salvation. We hear a prayer-like request for the moral strength to live the convictions and communal values St. Paul enjoined upon the community earlier (v. 1-11). The passage continues in the 3rd Chapter speaking about the gifts we are given as a consequence of Baptism and how our Baptism is linked to His sacrifice. Baptism provides the access to salvation and all are cleansed (Justified) by it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
The people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying,
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
After all the people had been baptized
and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying,
heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him
in bodily form like a dove.
And a voice came from heaven,
“You are my beloved Son;
with you I am well pleased.”------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 3:15-16, 21-22
We are given the story of the Lord’s Baptism from Luke today. This is another very short version that does not include the exchange between Jesus and John the Baptist. Here we do hear the echoes of Isaiah’s prophecy as Christ is claimed by God.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The Baptism of Jesus, like our own baptisms, marks a beginning and an end. For the Lord, it is the end of his preparation. He was born to a task. His self imposed incarnation was for a purpose-he was to reveal God to all creation. All that we have been talking and hearing about since the Nativity of the Lord a few short weeks ago has been pointed at this moment.
The stories we have heard; first about the Lord’s humble but miraculous birth to a virgin in Bethlehem was to fulfill the prophecy of his coming. The whole weight of the Prophets was thrown behind that starlit birth in a manager. The world’s anticipation was recognized as the Magi came bearing gifts – it was not just to the Jews that the Light came into the world, but the whole of mankind.
In scripture during those days immediately following the angelic proclamation that the Prince of Peace had come to us, we heard how his father, St. Joseph listened to those heavenly messengers and fled to Egypt with Mary, the Mother of God, and their new son and how Herod’s plot to stop God’s plan was foiled through the cries of the first martyrs, the Holy Innocents.
Those early years of the Lord’s life were not shared with us. He comes to the Baptismal bath now as a man of thirty, prepared to take up the mantle of the Messiah. He submits to the symbolic bath of St. John the Baptist, his cousin and emerges, at once crowed with the Holy Spirit. Now joined with his later gift, the beginning is at an end and the work of the Lord is at hand.
For us too the gift of new life in Baptism was both an end and a beginning. We were given as a gift of new life to our parents. If we were baptized, as most of us were, as infants, our parents stood up in front of the faith community to which they belonged and promised, as our proxies, in our place, that the faith we share would be the faith of their child.
We were brought to that bath as human children and came out of it changed- altered in essence. Like a piece of steel that is tempered in fire, in its raw form we cannot see a difference between it and the finished product. But when tested, there is strength in that tempered steel not found in it before it passed through the fire. When we received that baptism the heart that beat within us was strengthened with the Holy Spirit. Just as Christ received the Spirit at his baptism we were given that same gift.
Something else happens as well. There is a drowning – Sin is washed away, again, like the impurities of metal are removed during the forging process, the soul is washed clean. The sins no longer exist something new rises out of that water freed from the nature that allowed Eve to be deceived by Satan, free from that fallen nature of disobedience to the Father. The old self dies in that bath, drown the love of God for his children.
Once transformed in the waters of Baptism, we were anointed with Holy Chrism, upon our crowns was placed that sacred oil which set us aside now as something holy, something of God. Changed in character we were now offered as a gift to the Son who saved us.
We are then presented with the Light of Christ from the New Fire of the Easter Candle and clothed in a white garment making us as new creations now in Christ.
For those of us baptized as infants we do not remember the event that opened the gates of heaven for us. For those of us lucky enough to have been made new later in life, those effects were no doubt felt as they occurred. Old or young, when we went through that holy sacrament we were set on a new course. Like Jesus, that mission was placed before us and we are called to follow his example.
Today as we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord we are reminded of our own call to holiness. In Jesus life, this event marked a new beginning. We now embark upon our own continued journey. As we reflect upon our lives to this point, we are called once more to ask ourselves if we have done what God has called us to do. We are called, as a holy people, set aside for Christ, to take up the message given by the angels at the Lord’s birth. We are called, as the adopted sons and daughters of God to bring that message of love and peace to all we meet. That is what the journey upon which the Lord embarks, that is our mission as well.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “Baptism of Christ” by Guido Reni, c. 1623[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
(First Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Readings for The Baptism of the Lord[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading I: Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Is 42:1-4, 6-7
Isaiah’s oracle brings us almost the exact words spoken by God as Jesus walks out of the Jordan following his baptism. He goes on in the first paragraph to describe the compassionate and loving character of Jesus. In the second paragraph Isaiah focuses on the new covenant established with the people with the advent of the Messiah.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
the rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Go up on to a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by a strong arm;
here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Is 40:1-5, 9-11
In this second option from Isaiah we are given first the prophetic vision of John the Baptist; “A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!” The prophecy then announces the coming of the Messiah and what a blessing he will be to the people.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10
R. (11b) The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Give to the LORD, you sons of God,
give to the LORD glory and praise,
Give to the LORD the glory due his name;
adore the LORD in holy attire.R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters,
the LORD, over vast waters.
The voice of the LORD is mighty;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The God of glory thunders,
and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
The LORD is enthroned above the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as king forever.R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10
This psalm selection focuses our attention on the baptismal font as it addresses in two of the three strophes the water theme.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or: Psalm 104:1b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30
R. (1) O bless the Lord, my soul.
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
You are clothed with majesty and glory,
robed in light as with a cloak.
You have spread out the heavens like a tent-cloth;R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
You have constructed your palace upon the waters.
You make the clouds your chariot;
you travel on the wings of the wind.
You make the winds your messengers,
and flaming fire your ministers.R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
How manifold are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you have wrought them all -
the earth is full of your creatures;
the sea also, great and wide,
in which are schools without number
of living things both small and great.R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
They look to you to give them food in due time.
When you give it to them, they gather it;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
If you take away their breath, they perish and return to the dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 104:1b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30
In the second psalm option we hear the song of praise again mentioning, in the second strophe, God’s throne above the waters. There is also a reference to rebirth in God whose Holy Spirit is a creative force.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading II: Acts 10:34-38
Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered
in the house of Cornelius, saying:
“In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.
You know the word that he sent to the Israelites
as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all,
what has happened all over Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism
that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.”------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Acts 10:34-38
In this selection from Acts, Peter is sounding very much like Paul, saying that God is for every one not just the Israelites. He then launches into the Good News which he starts with a description of the Baptism of the Lord and how the Holy Spirit descended.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or: Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7
Beloved:
The grace of God has appeared, saving all
and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires
and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age,
as we await the blessed hope,
the appearance of the glory of our great God
and savior Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness
and to cleanse for himself a people as his own,
eager to do what is good.
When the kindness and generous love
of God our savior appeared,
not because of any righteous deeds we had done
but because of his mercy,
He saved us through the bath of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
whom he richly poured out on us
through Jesus Christ our savior,
so that we might be justified by his grace
and become heirs in hope of eternal life.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ti 2:11-14; 3:4-7
The letter to Titus speaks to the message he is to take to the Cretans. The first verses (11-14) are almost a hymn of praise, blessing God for his gift of salvation. We hear a prayer-like request for the moral strength to live the convictions and communal values St. Paul enjoined upon the community earlier (v. 1-11). The passage continues in the 3rd Chapter speaking about the gifts we are given as a consequence of Baptism and how our Baptism is linked to His sacrifice. Baptism provides the access to salvation and all are cleansed (Justified) by it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
The people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying,
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
After all the people had been baptized
and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying,
heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him
in bodily form like a dove.
And a voice came from heaven,
“You are my beloved Son;
with you I am well pleased.”------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 3:15-16, 21-22
We are given the story of the Lord’s Baptism from Luke today. This is another very short version that does not include the exchange between Jesus and John the Baptist. Here we do hear the echoes of Isaiah’s prophecy as Christ is claimed by God.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The Baptism of Jesus, like our own baptisms, marks a beginning and an end. For the Lord, it is the end of his preparation. He was born to a task. His self imposed incarnation was for a purpose-he was to reveal God to all creation. All that we have been talking and hearing about since the Nativity of the Lord a few short weeks ago has been pointed at this moment.
The stories we have heard; first about the Lord’s humble but miraculous birth to a virgin in Bethlehem was to fulfill the prophecy of his coming. The whole weight of the Prophets was thrown behind that starlit birth in a manager. The world’s anticipation was recognized as the Magi came bearing gifts – it was not just to the Jews that the Light came into the world, but the whole of mankind.
In scripture during those days immediately following the angelic proclamation that the Prince of Peace had come to us, we heard how his father, St. Joseph listened to those heavenly messengers and fled to Egypt with Mary, the Mother of God, and their new son and how Herod’s plot to stop God’s plan was foiled through the cries of the first martyrs, the Holy Innocents.
Those early years of the Lord’s life were not shared with us. He comes to the Baptismal bath now as a man of thirty, prepared to take up the mantle of the Messiah. He submits to the symbolic bath of St. John the Baptist, his cousin and emerges, at once crowed with the Holy Spirit. Now joined with his later gift, the beginning is at an end and the work of the Lord is at hand.
For us too the gift of new life in Baptism was both an end and a beginning. We were given as a gift of new life to our parents. If we were baptized, as most of us were, as infants, our parents stood up in front of the faith community to which they belonged and promised, as our proxies, in our place, that the faith we share would be the faith of their child.
We were brought to that bath as human children and came out of it changed- altered in essence. Like a piece of steel that is tempered in fire, in its raw form we cannot see a difference between it and the finished product. But when tested, there is strength in that tempered steel not found in it before it passed through the fire. When we received that baptism the heart that beat within us was strengthened with the Holy Spirit. Just as Christ received the Spirit at his baptism we were given that same gift.
Something else happens as well. There is a drowning – Sin is washed away, again, like the impurities of metal are removed during the forging process, the soul is washed clean. The sins no longer exist something new rises out of that water freed from the nature that allowed Eve to be deceived by Satan, free from that fallen nature of disobedience to the Father. The old self dies in that bath, drown the love of God for his children.
Once transformed in the waters of Baptism, we were anointed with Holy Chrism, upon our crowns was placed that sacred oil which set us aside now as something holy, something of God. Changed in character we were now offered as a gift to the Son who saved us.
We are then presented with the Light of Christ from the New Fire of the Easter Candle and clothed in a white garment making us as new creations now in Christ.
For those of us baptized as infants we do not remember the event that opened the gates of heaven for us. For those of us lucky enough to have been made new later in life, those effects were no doubt felt as they occurred. Old or young, when we went through that holy sacrament we were set on a new course. Like Jesus, that mission was placed before us and we are called to follow his example.
Today as we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord we are reminded of our own call to holiness. In Jesus life, this event marked a new beginning. We now embark upon our own continued journey. As we reflect upon our lives to this point, we are called once more to ask ourselves if we have done what God has called us to do. We are called, as a holy people, set aside for Christ, to take up the message given by the angels at the Lord’s birth. We are called, as the adopted sons and daughters of God to bring that message of love and peace to all we meet. That is what the journey upon which the Lord embarks, that is our mission as well.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “Baptism of Christ” by Guido Reni, c. 1623[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
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