‍First Reading: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11

Psalm: 103 (104) – R: Bless the Lord, O my soul! My God,how great you are!

Second Reading: Titus 2:11-14, 3:4-7

Gospel: Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

In two distinct ways, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord serves as a bridge. Firstly, it doubles up as the last feast of the Christmas season and as the first Sunday in Ordinary Time. Much more significantly, however, it highlights a dramatic change in Jesus’s life. All three of the synoptic gospels identify Jesus's baptism as the event which takes him out of obscurity and drives him into public ministry. He is the anointed one who will become the suffering servant for all, defying society’s expectations of a Messiah.

Our first reading is one of intense hope in the future. Whatever the present or past problems and sufferings, the future is full of promise: ‘here is your God… he is coming with power.’

It falls into four sections. In the first, the past can be left behind. ‘her sin is atoned for… she has received double punishment for all her crimes.’  Relief is felt all around. In the second, in which God calls the prophet, indicates a voice of strong direction suggesting a new Exodus, a real change of heart, which can then lead to a real expression of joy in the revelation of the glory of God. We see in it, the person of John the Baptist.

The final two sections bring us to the joy of Christ’s coming, while the final passage shows two quite different messianic images – the all-conquering Lord and the tender shepherd.

Psalm 103 is a great and beautiful hymn to God who created and keeps the whole world in being.  It is read in full in the Office of Readings on Sunday of Week 2. It is a heartfelt commendation and praise of God, his wide-ranging power and is full of wonderful imagery. In baptism, the Lord sends forth his spirit and we are created anew.

In Paul’s letter to Titus, he is urging the community to be self-restrained’ and to ‘live good and religious lives’. There are issues with certain members of the community, who are seeking to establish institutions which would preserve their view of orthodoxy, contrary to the teaching of the early Church. In this section of the letter, Paul is linking good behaviour with the salvific actions of God. As the Churches developed from gatherings in private homes, and in the Roman world, the family was seen as a microcosm of the state, family and community reflected one another. Social organisation is thus linked to ethical behaviour and given theological significance.

Luke, like Matthew and Mark, presents us with a very short account of Jesus’s baptism, beginning with John the Baptist telling his followers that he is not the Messiah, that the one following him will baptise with the Holy Spirit and not water, before Jesus is baptised, and everything changes for those present. The manifestation of the Trinity, Jesus present, the voice of the Father from heaven and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, signals Jesus’ acceptance and inauguration of his mission, anticipating the ‘baptism’ of his death on the Cross and submitting himself to the Father’s will. At his baptism, the heavens, which Adam’s sin had closed, were opened and the waters sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation.

At our own baptisms, we become this new creation, we become temples of the Spirit, washed clean from Original Sin and brothers and sisters of Christ as children of the Father. We accept too, his mission, to be bearers of his message to the world around us and to bring hope to those who still lost in the darkness of this world.

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The Baptism of the Lord:

CCC 438

CCC 536

CCC 537

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In today’s Collect we recall Christ have been baptised in the River Jordan, the Holy Spirit descending upon him, and the Father declaring Jesus as his beloved Son. Through baptism, we are incorporated into Christ and are formed as God’s people. This sacrament pardons all sins, rescues us from the power of darkness, and brings us to the dignity of adopted children. We are a new creation through water and the Holy Spirit. In such a way we are pleasing to God. Baptism is a sacrament of faith, in which we respond to the Gospel. Although the celebration of baptism is a ‘one-of-event’, in fact, our baptismal graces deepen over our pilgrimage journey during this life, and fully flourishes in the next life.  The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is the end of the Christmas liturgical season. There is a fittingness that we end this season with this feast day, as we celebrated at Christmas the start of the Paschal Mystery, with the Incarnation and Nativity of Our Lord, the Baptism of Jesus reminds us that we are incorporated into this mystery through the celebration of baptism. It might be a suggestion to celebrate the Blessing and Sprinkling of Water during the Mass, which replaces the Penitential Act (cf. Roman Missal, Appendix II). This takes place as a reminder of our own baptism. The blessing of water reminds us that water is a symbol of the fountain of life and a source of purification, and by this blessing we seek our Lord’s protection and to be renewed by the living spring of grace within us, which is planted in our own baptism.

Bidding Prayers

For the Church – may she always remain perfectly open to the power and promptings of the Holy Spirit, so that through her closeness to Christ, draw people to him.   

For the world’s leaders –may they recognise the need for the comforting strength of God’s Holy Spirit, which alone can give the world true meaning and purpose.

‍For our parish – may we renew our baptismal commitment, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and so be filled with Christian love, joy and hope.          

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Note: These hymns have been chosen from different sources.

Comfort, comfort, now my people (L97) (LHON227)

Jesus the word has lived among us (CFE331, L161, LHON401)

Open your ears, O Christian people (CFE582, L472, LHON546)

Songs of thankfulness and praise (CFE661, L162, TCH47)

Key

CFE - Celebration Hymnal for Everyone

L – Laudate

LHON – Liturgical Hymns Old and New (Mayhew, 1999)

TCH – The Catholic Hymnbook (Gracewing)