Feast of the Lord’s Baptism

Sunday January 9

 

Feast of the Lord’s Baptism

 

You Are My Beloved Son

 

Note. We use the full new set of readings for year B for this feast, as provided in the new edition of the Lectionary (1981). The old readings may still be used.

 

Greeting (see Rom 6:3-4)

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 (if the rite of the water is not used)

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.

 

First Reading: 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.

 

1st Reading Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11

Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins. A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. Go up on to a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God! Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by a strong arm; here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.

 

Psalms 104:1B-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30

(1) O bless the Lord, my soul.

 O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
you are clothed with majesty and glory,
 robed in light as with a cloak.
You have spread out the heavens like a tent-cloth;
R. O bless the Lord, my soul.

 You have constructed your palace upon the waters.
You make the clouds your chariot;
you travel on the wings of the wind.
 You make the winds your messengers,
and flaming fire your ministers.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul.

 How manifold are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you have wrought them all–
the earth is full of your creatures;
 the sea also, great and wide,
in which are schools without number
of living things both small and great.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul.

 They look to you to give them food in due time.
 When you give it to them, they gather it;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul.

 If you take away their breath, they perish and return to the dust.
 When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul.

 

Second Reading: 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.

 

2nd Reading Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7

Beloved: The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good. When the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.

 

Alleluia – CF. Mark 9:7

Alleluia, alleluia.
The heavens were opened and the voice of the Father thundered:
This is my beloved Son, listen to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Or CF. Luke 3:16

Alleluia, alleluia.

 John said: One mightier than I is coming;
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: 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 – Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

 

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.

 

Introduction 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 faithful 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...

 

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 uncertainties and empty attachments.
Send us out to go forward without fear
on the road of your 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
Jesus saw his vocation:
to serve God and people.
At our baptism
we were given our vocation.
It is, in our own small way,
the vocation of Jesus.
Let each of us become
a faithful servant and son or daughter
of the Father,
a humble servant of those around us.
And may almighty God bless you all:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

 

Go in the peace and the love of the Lord.

R/ Thanks be to God.

 

Commentary

Read:

Isaiah announces the day of liberation for God’s people with the coming of the Lord. In the words of Paul, the grace of baptism justifies us and makes us heirs to eternal life. Jesus enters the waters of baptism and the Holy Trinity manifests itself. 

Reflect:

Fulton J. Sheen (Life of Christ) observed that a person received baptism to be freed from the stain of sin; but Jesus entered the waters of Jordan to be stained by our sins. How great an act of humility and self-emptying! In this kenotic act, Jesus is not alone—the entire Trinity is present, as is evident in the Baptism scene. Isn’t it also interesting that with the Baptism, the extraordinary liturgical season of Christmas ends and the “ordinary time” begins? With the Baptism, God the Almighty enters the waters of sinful human condition, becomes like one of us, and lives the sweaty, dusty, boring ordinary life of a human being. Thus appeared the Grace of God – as Paul reminds Titus – walking amidst us as an ordinary human, so that we could become like him, heirs to his extraordinary patrimony.

Pray:

“Father, I thank you for claiming me as your beloved daughter/son.”

Act:

Meditate on this verse, as applied to you: “You are my beloved child.”

 

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022;

written by Fr.Paulson Velyannoor, CMF

 

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