BAPTISM OF THE LORD – 2020
Ø We have reached the end of the Christmas season, time
in which we have thank the Lord for the mystery of his Incarnation, his coming to
live among us.
Ø The liturgical celebration of the Baptism of the Lord
has a powerful meaning.
Ø This Sunday participates from the meaning of the
Epiphany or manifestation of the Lord and it is at the door of the Ordinary
time in which we will follow the adult Jesus in his announcing of the Kingdom.
Ø Today God the Father reveals to us who Jesus is, He is
the beloved Son.
FIRST
READING - Is 42:1-4, 6-7
v
This reading from
the prophet Isaiah has two parts: In the first:
God speaks about his servant, his chosen one in whom
he is well pleased
He has put his Spirit upon him
So that this servant could bring justice to the
nations, to all the peoples
His attitude is humble, silent, patient, because he
will not finish destroying what is almost destroyed, but he will establish
justice.
The countries and the coastlands shall wait eagerly
for his teaching.
v In the second
part
God speaks to the servant and tells him the mission he
wants to give to him
God has formed the servant, has taken him by hand, to
be a “covenant” for the people, that is,
the servant will be God’s covenant with his people.
He will be light for the nations, to enlighten
everyone and to take the slaves to freedom, slaves of sickness, sin,
addictions, and sadness; everyone who is deprived of freedom.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM - Ps 29: 1-4. 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.
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.
Ø This psalm describes God with powerful and strong
images.
Ø This God has called the servant,
Ø God is almighty and the whole creation sings his
glory. Certainly this is so, although in this creation only men and women are
aware of God’s glory and thus able to sing it consciously . The rest of
creation sing God’s glory with their existence.
SECOND
READING: Acts 10:34-38
ü
Luke who is the
author of this book describes Jesus with words that remind us of Isaias’s
servant.
ü
Jesus salvation,
the Servant, is for all “God does not show any partiality.”
ü
God has spoken
through his Servant Jesus.
ü
God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.
ü
With this spirit
and this power Jesus of Nazareth went doing good and healing all those
oppressed of any kind materially or spiritually.
ü
All of this
because God was with him.
GOSPEL
Mt 3:13-17
§
Since we are in
the year A we will read the narration of the baptism of Jesus according to
Matthew.
§
Jesus goes,
probably with the other men from his
town to the Jordan to receive John’s baptism.
§
John is a prophet
who has become famous in Israel, he calls to conversion, administers a baptism
of repentance and conversion. This
baptism does not take away sins, because this will be possible only by Jesus
giving up his life for our redemption.
§
It seems that
John had had some kind of revelation from God in regards to Jesus; he does not
want to baptize him, and he says the truth, it should be the other way around,
he is the one who needs to be baptized by Jesus.
§
Jesus tells him
that they have to fulfill all justice. This means what is conformable with
God’s will.
§
After hearing
this words from Jesus, John agrees to baptized him and something unexpected
happens:
§
When Jesus comes
out from the water, that is, after having fulfilled all justice, the will of
God
§
God speaks, the
heaven are open for Jesus, and the voice of the Father is heard, the voice that
Jesus heard in his heart when he remained in the temple, that he continued to
hear deep inside him during the years in Nazareth, where he was the son of the
carpenter and his mother was Mary.
§
The voice is not
addressed to Jesus but to the people around him. It is addressed to us women
and men from the XXI century.
§
Jesus is the
beloved Son of the Father in whom he is well pleased. Jesus is the servant of
Isaiah in whom the Father is pleased. God the Father wants to share
his Son with us. THANK YOU FATHER! For
sharing with us your only treasure, your Son Jesus.
What
a beautiful harmony among the three readings, how they lead us to discover and
to understand that Jesus is the servant that God the Father has sent to live
among us to establish all justice, that is, to restore creation to what the
Father wants and dreams it should be.
CLARETIAN CORNER
The more we
went into that immense sea of waters the more my spirit plunged into the
immense sea of God , when I looked at myself
within the heart of my God and
Lord more clearly than in a mirror. God was so pleased in this way of
considering his infinite greatness that often times He made me feel the
tenderness of his most holy arms with which His holy Majesty pressed my soul
within his sacred heart. This was the cause of that inalterable peace I enjoyed
that the fact of not getting bored in the trip so long and so difficult. The
immensity of the sea reminded me of the immensity of God and those skies so
wide brought to my mind the immense spaces of the glory of the saints. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of
the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 159
I can see that what the Lord is doing in me is like what I observe going on in the motion of the planets: they are pulled by two forces, one centrifugal, the other centripetal. Centrifugal force pulls them to escape their orbits; centripetal force draws them toward their center. The balance of these two forces holds them in their orbits. That's just how I see myself. I feel one force within me, which I'll call centrifugal, telling me to get out of Madrid and the court; but I also feel a counterforce, the will of God, telling me to stay in court for the time being, until I am free to leave. This will of God is the centripetal force that keeps me chained here like a dog on his leash. The mixture of these two forces, namely, the desire to leave and my love for doing God's will, keeps me running around in my circle. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 623.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
CLARET, S. Antonio María. Autobiography.
PAGOLA, José A.
El camino abierto por Jesús. PPC 2012
PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiography.
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