Sunday, January
13, 2002
Baptism of the Lord
1st
Reading: Is 42:1-4, 6-7
Thus says the Lord,
"Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight.
I have put my spirit upon him, and he will bring justice to the nations.
He does not shout or raise his voice, proclamations are not heard in the
streets.
A broken reed he will not crush, nor will he snuff out the light of the
wavering wick.
He will make justice appear in truth.
He will not waver or be broken until he has established justice on earth;
the islands are waiting for his law.
I, Yahweh, have called you for the sake of justice; I will hold your hand
to make you firm; I will make you as a covenant to the people, and as
a light to the nations, to open eyes that do not see, to free captives
from prison, to bring out to light those who sit in darkness.
2nd Reading: Acts 10:34-38
Peter then spoke to them, "Truly, I realize that God does not show
partiality, but in all nations he listens to everyone who fears God and
does good. And this is the message he has sent to the children of Israel,
the good news of peace he has proclaimed through Jesus Christ, who is
the Lord of all. No doubt you have heard of the event that occurred throughout
the whole country of the Jews, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism
John preached. You know how God anointed Jesus the Nazarean with Holy
Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all who were under
the devil's power, because God was with him.
Gospel: Mt 3:13-17
At
that time Jesus arrived from Galilee and came to John at the Jordan to
be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent him, and said, "How
is it you come to me: I should be baptized by you!"
But Jesus answered him, "Let it be like that for now that we may
fulfill the right order." John agreed.
As soon as he was baptized, Jesus came up from the water. At once, the
heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God come down like a dove and
rest upon him. At the same time a voice from heaven was heard, "This
is my Son, the Beloved; he is my Chosen One."
Commentary
It is amazing! We identify baptism with that water poured out on our little
heads. There were more important elements like the recognition of being
beloved sons and daughters of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit
to mark out lives forever; we were given a human and Christian identity
and began, though still unaware, our mission. But even if we pay attention
only to the less important element, the water, we can learn a lot from
it. Water keeps running its course only by going down. By going down like
in profound humility and simplicity, water brings freshness and life to
everything it touches. The document "The Church in Asia" defines
the mission of the Church in our continent as "service to life."
The water taught us that lesson during our baptism.