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Bible READINGS
Is
55:1-11 // I Jn 5:1-9 // Mk 1:7-11
I . BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
“Called to a
Covenant”
One of the most powerful accounts that I have read was the one written by
Sr. Mary Rose McGeady, leader of the Covenant House, the nation’s largest system
of emergency shelters for homeless kids. In chapter 5 of her book, “Please
Forgive Me, God”, she narrated: “The two kids walked into the
schoolyard, an arsenal of weapons hanging from their bodies and hidden inside
their black trench coats. Their first two victims were a 17-year-old girl and
15-year-old freshman boy, both classmates, who were shot in the head and the
back immediately outside the front entrance to the school. Once inside, the two
killers strode quickly through the school, first to the cafeteria then upstairs
to the library, pointing guns at their terrified classmates, casually deciding
who should live and who should die. As each shot rang out, and each innocent
life was snuffed out, we’re told the kids laughed triumphantly, and then moved
on to the next victim … In one particularly nightmarish sequence, one of the
killers confronted a girl trembling on the ground, and asked if she believed in
God. Knowing full well the safe answer, the girl stood her ground. “There is a
God,’ she said quietly, ‘and you need to follow along God’s path.’ ‘There is no
God,’ the boy gunman said, and shot her in the head.” Sr. Rose McGeady remarked
with awe: “The girl proclaimed her belief in God, knowing that her answer would
be the last words she ever spoke.” Indeed, the girl proclaimed her faith, not
only in the water bath of the sacrament of baptism, but also in the blood bath
of her martyrdom. She followed the destiny of the Lord Jesus who offered his
life totally to the Father, manifesting his covenantal fidelity to the Father at
his water bath at the Jordan and at his sacrificial death on the cross where
“blood and water” flowed from his saving side.
The Gospel reading of this Sunday presents the episode of the Lord’s
baptism at the River Jordan (cf. Mk 1:7-11). The event is an epiphany, the
manifestation of Jesus as the Servant of Yahweh, the one who would fulfill the
divine messianic plan. The event, moreover, is a theophany, the divine
revelation of God’s paternal relationship with Jesus whom he acknowledges as his
own Son. Indeed, the baptism of Jesus is a messianic investiture and a
stipulation of a covenantal relationship between God and his Servant-Son. The
“beloved Son” whom the divine voice acknowledges is also the faithful Servant of
Yahweh’s messianic plan. The baptismal scene of Jesus has exquisite paschal
undertones. According to F. Durrwell: “The baptism was the prelude to the
redemption, and there lies its mystery. It was a prelude in symbol as well as in
reality, for the whole act of redemption was reflected in it and begun in it …
His immersion in the water of penance was an anticipation and a figure of the
blood and suffering of that other baptism. Corresponding to that momentary
humiliation there was glorification … Jesus came out of the Jordan as later he
was to rise from the dead, in the glory of the Spirit, in the manifestation of
the divine sonship; the new creation which was to be fulfilled in the
resurrection was already promised.” The ritual immersion in the waters of the
Jordan prefigures, therefore, the tremendous life-giving event of the death and
resurrection of Jesus who is faithful to his covenantal relationship with the
Father in heaven.
The ritual baptism of a Christian is both a call to a covenantal
relationship with God the Father and a paschal event. Our covenant with God
involves faithful witnessing through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a daily
heroic witnessing even to the point of martyrdom. It is a configuration to Jesus
- the Word of God made flesh - the same Jesus who shed his blood in love for the
salvation of the world. Our baptismal consecration is a covenantal act confirmed
by the choices we made in the ordinary humdrum moments as well as in the supreme
sacrificial events of our life. In the second reading of today’s liturgy (cf. I
Jn 5:1-9), our attention is directed towards the mystery of Jesus Christ
actualized in history and living on in the Church. Just as Jesus in his whole
historical mission can be described as “the one who came through water and
blood” (v.6), so the Holy Spirit in his continuing historical work may be
described as “the one who testifies” (v.6). According to the International
Biblical Commentary: “The witness of the Spirit consists in that action by which
the truth of Jesus’ baptism and death is brought to life within the Church
through the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist. As each believer
appropriates this witness, what Jesus has done becomes actually for him or her
the revelation of the Father. It is for this reason that the Spirit’s action is
called the ‘testimony of God’ (v.9).” The witnessing action of God in the heart
of the believer enables that person to give one’s entire existence to the
Father’s redemptive plan. Today’s liturgy is indeed a call to covenantal
fidelity and to a greater openness to the action of the Holy Spirit in our
lives.
The invitation
to a life-giving covenantal relationship with God is sounded off with enthusiasm
in the first reading (cf. Is 55:1-11), which is a part of Deutero-Isaiah’s
conclusion to the Book of Comfort. The words are ecstatic and impelling: “Come
to the water … Come, receive grain and eat … Come, without paying and without
cost, drink wine and milk … Heed me and you shall eat well, you shall delight in
rich fare …” The invitation to a rich banquet, a symbol of God’s providential
care for his people, titillates one’s imagination about the abundance of the new
messianic age. Here we are presented with the vision of the fullness of time
when all will be filled with God’s love and mercy. According to Aelred Rosser:
“With the baptism of Jesus and the inauguration of the reign of God, the time of
peace and plenty foretold by Isaiah has come!”
II.
POINTS
FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
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A.
Our celebration of the baptism of our Lord Jesus introduces us
deeply into the mystery of the person and the mission of Christ as God’s
beloved Son-Servant. Through his baptism, Jesus announces his own future as
“chosen servant” of God, who will offer himself in sacrifice to obtain the
forgiveness of every sin through the washing in his own blood. How do we live
the paschal sacrificial aspect of our covenantal relationship with God? |
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B.
The mystery of Christ’s baptism introduces us into the mystery of our own
baptism. The gift of baptism makes us sharers in the life of God. It enables
us to participate in Christ’s spiritual worship and in his mission. How
faithful are we to our baptismal promises? Do we reflect our baptismal
commitment in our daily life with renewed vigor and zeal for the spread of
God’s kingdom of love, justice and peace? |
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
(Prayer
composed by Fr. James Alberione, SSP)
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Leader: Jesus, Divine
Master, we adore you as the only-begotten Son of God, come on the earth to
give life, the most abundant life.
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Assembly: We thank you because
by dying on the cross, you merited life for us in baptism and nourish it
in the Eucharist and in the other sacraments. Live in us, O Jesus, with
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so that we may love you with our whole
mind, strength and heart, and love our neighbor as ourselves for love of
you. Increase charity in us, so that one day, called from the sepulcher to
the glorious life, we may be united with you in the eternal happiness in
heaven. AMEN. |
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IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following sacred text is a living
word to nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well
pleased.” (Mk 1:11)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
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ACTION PLAN A:
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Let us honor Christ’s baptism and celebrate this feast of holiness by
renewing today our baptismal promises.
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ACTION
PLAN B:
Offer special prayers for the
homeless and runaway children being served by Covenant House. If it is within
your means, financial assistance may be sent to the following address:
Covenant House
JAF Box 2973
New York, NY
10116-2973 |
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