Additional Information about the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord[1]
Readings for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Isaiah’s prediction 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.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
This psalm selection focuses our attention on the baptismal font as it addresses in two of the three strophes the water theme.
Reading II 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.
Gospel Matthew 3:13-17
The story of the Baptism of Jesus from St. Matthew’s Gospel, while short, is the most complete account of the interaction between Jesus and St. John the Baptist in the Synoptic Gospels. Jesus recognizes the symbolic nature of what the Baptist is doing and tells him, above his objections, to “fulfill all righteousness”. The event unfolds with Jesus coming up from the water and the Holy Spirit descending. What God says as reported by St. Matthew differs slightly from Mark and Luke in that the address takes the form of a proclamation as opposed to a statement to the Lord himself (“This is my beloved Son…” as opposed to “You are my beloved Son…(Mark 1:11) or (Luke 3:22)).
Homily:
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.
Readings for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Isaiah’s prediction 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.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
This psalm selection focuses our attention on the baptismal font as it addresses in two of the three strophes the water theme.
Reading II 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.
Gospel Matthew 3:13-17
The story of the Baptism of Jesus from St. Matthew’s Gospel, while short, is the most complete account of the interaction between Jesus and St. John the Baptist in the Synoptic Gospels. Jesus recognizes the symbolic nature of what the Baptist is doing and tells him, above his objections, to “fulfill all righteousness”. The event unfolds with Jesus coming up from the water and the Holy Spirit descending. What God says as reported by St. Matthew differs slightly from Mark and Luke in that the address takes the form of a proclamation as opposed to a statement to the Lord himself (“This is my beloved Son…” as opposed to “You are my beloved Son…(Mark 1:11) or (Luke 3:22)).
Homily:
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] The picture used today is “The Baptism of Christ” by Annibale Carracci, 1584
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
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