January 9, 2006
THE LORD'S BAPTISM

You Are My Beloved Son

Readings:
Is 55:1-11; Ps 12:2-3,4,5-6;
1 John 5:1-9; Mk 1:7-11

Commentaries / Gospel Reflections from:
Daily Gospel • Preaching the Word • A Certain Jesus
Sundays Into Silence • Homily by Fr. Peter,cmf NEW

Greeting

We have been baptized in Christ Jesus
and died to sin
to rise to a new life.
May the risen Lord be always with you.
R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant

When Jesus asked John the Baptist to baptize him in the Jordan, just as John had baptized other people, Jesus saw that his task was to save people from their sins. He himself was without sin, but he made himself one with the people in their weakness. And then God confirmed him in his task by saying: "This is my beloved Son." When we were baptized, we expressed, through our parents and godparents, that we had become one with Jesus. Since that day we share with Jesus in his task of serving and saving people. If we do so, then God can tell us too: "you are my beloved son or daughter."

It is recommended to use today the rite of sprinkling with holy water. See the Sacramentary.

Penitential Act

Though we have become one with Jesus in baptism,
we have not lived as one with him.
We now seek forgiveness from the Lord.
(PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, you committed yourself wholeheartedly
to the Father and to people:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Jesus Christ, the Father recognized
how you were going to serve him and people,
when he said: "This is my beloved Son":
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you unite us to yourself
and commit us with you.
May we too hear from the Father:
"You are my beloved sons and daughters":
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Lord, forgive us our reluctance to serve
and all our other sins.
Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray that the Spirit
make us live the life of Jesus
(PAUSE)
Lord, our loving God,
pour out on us the Holy Spirit
who came down on Jesus
when he was baptized in the Jordan
and who guided Jesus in his life and death.
Let the Spirit breathe on us
freedom from fear and hatred,
the fire of his love, fervor in prayer.
May he bring harmony in our communities
and lead us in our mission
of making all people your sons and daughters,
that all may praise and thank you
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading Introduction: Come to the Water and Have Life!
      The prophet invites God's people to live united with him in a lasting covenant. Let them be thirsty for his word and hungry for God and his life.

First Reading: Is 55:1-11

Thus says the LORD:
All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
You who have no money,
come, receive grain and eat;
come, without paying and without cost,
drink wine and milk!
Why spend your money for what is not bread,
your wages for what fails to satisfy?
Heed me, and you shall eat well,
you shall delight in rich fare.
Come to me heedfully,
listen, that you may have life.
I will renew with you the everlasting covenant,
the benefits assured to David.
As I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander of nations,
so shall you summon a nation you knew not,
and nations that knew you not shall run to you,
because of the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, who has glorified you.

Seek the LORD while he may be found,
call him while he is near.
Let the scoundrel forsake his way,
and the wicked man his thoughts;
let him turn to the LORD for mercy;
to our God, who is generous in forgiving.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
As high as the heavens are above the earth
so high are my ways above your ways
and my thoughts above your thoughts.

For just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
and do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
so shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
my word shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 12:2-3,4,5-6

R. (3) You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
R. (3) You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
R. (3) You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!
R. (3) You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

Second Reading Introduction: Believe in Jesus, in Whom We Are Born
       We are born from God if we believe in Jesus; three things have witnessed that Jesus is God's Son: the water of baptism, the blood of the cross, and the Spirit of Pentecost.

Second Reading: 1 Jn 5:1-9

Beloved:
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God,
and everyone who loves the Father
loves also the one begotten by him.
In this way we know that we love the children of God
when we love God and obey his commandments.
For the love of God is this,
that we keep his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome,
for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world.
And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.
Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ,
not by water alone, but by water and blood.
The Spirit is the one who testifies,
and the Spirit is truth.
So there are three that testify,
the Spirit, the water, and the blood,
and the three are of one accord.
If we accept human testimony,
the testimony of God is surely greater.
Now the testimony of God is this,
that he has testified on behalf of his Son.

Gospel Introduction: You Are My Beloved Son
       The prophet had announced a servant filled with God's Spirit. When Jesus is baptized, the Father recognizes him as his servant and his beloved Son. The Holy Spirit comes down on him.

Gospel Reading: Mk 1:7-11

 John the Baptist preached to the people saying, "After me comes one who is more powerful than I am; I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit. As for me, I am not worthy to bend down and untie his sandals."

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth, a town of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And the moment he came up out of the water, heaven opened before him and he saw the Spirit coming down on him like a dove. And these words were heard from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved, the One I have chosen."

Commentary

The water is here! Come to the feast of the poor and incline your ear so that your soul might live! See-there is one whose thoughts and ways are not like ours, but like our God's. God's ways are those of forgiveness, mercy, and giving-giving of seed, water, bread, nourishment and obedience. This one is God's beloved, his chosen son. And in this generosity of God, in Jesus' baptism, we are made his own beloved, his chosen ones too. We are made to be forgiving, merciful and giving, obeying God with Jesus and living in God's rich and satisfying Spirit. Do we live in this freedom of the children of God?

Read also Sundays Into Silence:
Validating Our Baptism

General Intercessions

United by our one Lord Jesus Christ, let us pray to the Father of all, and let us say.
R/ Lord, hear us through your Son.

- For all those who believe that Jesus is really God's Son and for all those who seek him, whether they know it or not, let us pray: R/ Lord, hear us through your Son.

- For all those who are baptized, that they may live as God's beloved sons and daughters, let us pray: R/ Lord, hear us through your Son.

- For all those who believe in Christ, that they may soon be united in one faith, one hope, one love and one body, let us pray: R/ Lord, hear us through your Son.

- For those whose life seems without meaning, for those who despair because of their faults, for all the loners in life, let us pray: R/ Lord, hear us through your Son.

- For this and every Christian community, that we may seek God's will together and draw strength from this eucharist, let us pray: R/ Lord, hear us through your Son.

Father, we thank you that you are our Father. Give us your Holy Spirit and gather us together to praise and love you now and for ever.
R/ Amen.

Prayer over the Gifts

Our God and Father,
these gifts of bread and wine
will become your beloved Son Jesus
on whom your favor rests.
Strengthen us with his body and blood
and let his Holy Spirit renew us
as people who live without compromise
the message of justice and love
and the very life of your Son.
In this way, may we truly be
your beloved sons and daughters
on whom your favor rests,
now and for ever. R/ Amen.

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

Let us give wholehearted thanks to the Father for having made us in baptism his beloved sons and daughters together with Jesus our Lord.

Invitation to the Lord's Prayer

Baptized in the Holy Spirit
and children of the Father
through Jesus, his beloved Son,
we pray with all trust Jesus' own prayer : R/ Our Father...

Deliver Us

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and grant us your peace in our day.
Revive in us the grace of baptism
and guide us by your Holy Spirit,
that we may be loyal to our mission
of living the life of Jesus in this world,
as we wait in joyful hope
for the coming in glory
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...

Prayer for Peace

Lord Jesus Christ,
let the star of your peace rise today
on the body of the Church
and on all who believe in you.
In its light, may we learn
to love and to serve one another
and to share the joy of your peace
with all willing to accept it,
now and for ever. R/ Amen.

Invitation to Communion

This is Jesus our Lord,
the beloved Son of the Father,
on whom God's favor rests.
Happy are we to be invited
to share his table
and to live his life. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...

Prayer after Communion

Our God and Father,
you have opened heaven to us
to strengthen us with the Bread of life
and to fill us with the Holy Spirit.
Make us new and call us away
from our certainties and attachments.
Send us out to go forward without fear
on the road of justice and peace,
that we may be your beloved children
together with your faithful Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Blessing

At his baptism in the Jordan
Jesus was invested with his mission
of bringing God's liberating love to people.
The Spirit guided him to carry out that mission
in uncompromising faithfulness.
At our baptism with water and the Spirit,
we have received the mission
to live like Jesus,
to go about doing good as he did,
to be faithful and just to God and to people.

May the God in whose name we have been baptized
protect, guide and bless you for this task:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

Let us go in the name of the Lord. R/ Thanks be to God.

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Additional Resource Material for this Sunday

Ideal for catechetical and liturgical dramatization of today"s gospel.

The Last Night In Betabara
(Mk 1:7-11)

(taken from the book A Certain Jesus, Vol. 1)
Click here for other Readings --> Index of A Certain Jesus