SUNDAY OF
THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD - 2019
Ø This Sundays is at the end of the
Christmas-Epiphany cycle and at the
beginning of the Ordinary time.
Ø The baptism of the Lord, is an
epiphany of the Lord, as well as the Magi and the Wedding at Canna.
FIRST
READING Is 42:1-4. 6-7
God speaks of his servant
whom he loves, his chosen one
ü Upon him he has poured out his Spirit.
ü Thus he will
bring justice to the nations not crying out, not shouting,
o He will not make his
voice heard in the streets
o He shall not
break the bruised reed
o And a smoldering wick he shall not quench
ü He will have patience, he will know how to wait for
each one’s appropriate time
ü He will have mercy and compassion,
ü Until justice is established on the earth.
ü The coast lands, the far distant lands, will wait for
his teaching
ü What a beautiful description of the mercy of our God.
ü The Reading continues. In the first part God speaks of
his servant, in the second part God speaks to his servant.
ü I have called you for the victory of justice
ü I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
ü a light for the nations, light to help the nations to see
justice, that is the kindness and mercy of our God
ü I have put you to open the eyes of the blind, to open the eyes whose
light has gone out
o It may be the physical light, but also the spiritual
light
o The servant has
the mission to help us to see as God
sees
o To see
ourselves, to see the other companions
of the life journey, as God sees us.
o This light will
give freedom to prisoners
§ …to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the
dungeon, those who live in darkness.
§ But especially to those of us who are prisoners of their
own passions, their own darkness, their own fears, their own sinfulness, their
own weakness.
Responsorial
Psalm: Ps 29: 1a y 2. 3ac-4. 3b y
9b-10
R. 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
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
v In the first verse we are invited to praise God in his
temple.
v The other two are a description of the voice of God.
v Through our voice we let others know us.
v The voice of the Lord is strong it can be heard over
the noise of the flood waters.
v This voice is all powerful as God is powerful, this
voice is his powerful Word that in the fullness of time became a baby, to reach
us.
o
But this thunder
is the cry of a baby in need of his mother
o
This thunder is
the voice of the humble man, the carpenter of Nazareth.
o
This thunder is
the voice of the missionary teacher who bends over any human need, who embraces
all those who have gone stray, all those in need of having their dignity
respected.
o
This thunder is
the soft but strong Word, which resounds inside every man and woman, calling us
to the conversion of heart.
o
This thunder that
calls us to be moved by the suffering of our brothers and sisters.
o
Thunder that
calls us to be merciful as the Father is merciful, whose voice is heard over
the flood waters.
SECOND READING Titus 2:11-14. 3,4-7
This letter is
addressed to a “brother”, it can be also anyone of us
o
The grace of God
has been manifested to save us and it has taught us…
o
This grace, this
kindness of God is Jesus, who speaks to us and teaches us the way that leads us
to salvation.
o
He has done this,
giving himself for us, so that his love, which is as powerful as the voice of
God over the flood waters, may conquer us, may help us to learn where is our
real good.
The author
of the letter says that He has saved us revealing
to us the kindness of God
o
He has done this not because we deserve it,
but because of his mercy
o
Mercy which has
also a meaning of fidelity, fidelity to the promises
o
All of this, the
salvation, has been accomplished by the Most Holy Trinity who has made us anew
through our baptism, by the mediation of Christ, our Lord.
o
This grace which
we have received at our baptism makes us heirs
Again mercy,
mercy which recreates and saves, that does not allow to die the flame which is
almost extinguished, but revives it.
GOSPEL – Luke 3,15-16. 21-22
Ø People are expecting the Messiah, and looking at John
they start thinking that he might be the one announced by the prophets
Ø John tells them that he is not, that the Messiah is
someone greater than he, whose baptism will
be not only of water but also of
the Spirit and fire.
o
Fire which
destroys, fire which purifies, fire which burns inside not only what is bad,
but which is the strength which leads us to act what is good with passion.
Ø Jesus is waiting to be baptized with the rest of the
men there present who confess their sins
Ø He does not have any sin; on the contrary, He comes to
take away the sin of the world “this is the lamb of God who takes away….”
Ø Maybe he has gone to the Jordan with other young men
of his hometown; he has gone attracted by the same strength, the same fire, the
same light that made him stay in the Temple when he was a teenager.
Ø Strength and attraction to Yahweh whom he experiences
as Abba.
Ø And at his baptism
the Father reveals his Son, his beloved in whom he is well pleased.
Ø Jesus hears the voice of the Father which resonates
inside as a thunder, as light, as a brilliant fire that enlightens his whole
life.
Ø Yes, what you experience inside is true, I am your Abba,
and I have a mission for you: to say to
all, that I love them, that my fatherly
heart is moved by mercy when I see the
misery, the suffering, the sin of my
children.
Ø Yes, communicate to your brothers and sisters who I am, and do this loving them as I love them.
Ø Yes, you are my beloved son, the only begotten, share your
sonship with all, seek them, carry them on your shoulder, cure
their wounds, dry their tears, do all of this even if they do not listen to
you, even when they take your life without knowing that you are giving them eternal life.
Ø You, who are God like me, love them with a human heart
so that they may understand that I am the true Love.
|
Let the one who reads these notes not wonder to see them so
disordered, because I never thought that I had to write such things. So, I
started with such confusion and shame that I had not been able to do it in
order. That’s why many things, which have to be at the beginning, are in the
middle and others, which are to be in the middle are at the end. They will also
miss the dates, because of my own carelessness but not for lack of
truthfulness, since by the grace of God, I have always abhorred lies. Let it be for the glory of God and of the
most Blessed Mother. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress,
Autobiography 232.
The matter of canonries is not so
carefully scrutinized. I'm not suggesting that Her Majesty or the Attorney
General have themselves ever been implicated in simony, but God knows whether
or not office-hunters have made deals with or offered presents to some members
of the circle that surrounds them, and surely these could not pass God's
scrutiny. For this reason I have never meddled in this business of soliciting
canonries. Would God that all priests
sought to be the last and the least among their brothers, as our Divine Master
taught us. The best canonry is to love God deeply and save souls, so as to
obtain a place of distinction in the glory of heaven. There can be no doubt
that it will stand a priest in better stead to have been a missionary than not
to have been a canon. Let him choose now what he would prefer to have chosen at
the hour of his death. St. Anthony Ma. Claret, Founder, Autobiography 631.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CLARET, San
Antonio María. Autobiografía 631.
PARIS, María
Antonia. Autobiografía 232.
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