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.

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.