Feast of the Lord’s Baptism

Sunday January 10

 

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.

Reading 1: Is 55:1-11

All you who are thirsty,

come to the water!

You who have no money,

come, buy grain and eat;

Come, buy grain without money,

wine and milk without cost!

Why spend your money for what is not bread;

your wages for what does not satisfy?

Only listen to me, and you shall eat well,

you shall delight in rich fare.

Pay attention and come to me;

listen, that you may have life.

I will make with you an everlasting covenant,

the steadfast loyalty promised to David

As I made him a witness to peoples,

a leader and commander of peoples,

So shall you summon a nation you knew not,

and a nation^* 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 upon him while he is near.

Let the wicked forsake their way,

and sinners their thoughts;

Let them turn to the LORD to find mercy;

to our God, who is generous in forgiving.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the LORD.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways,

my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Yet 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;

It shall not return to me empty,

but shall do what pleases me,

achieving the end for which I sent it.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Is 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6

R: You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

God indeed is my salvation;

I am confident and unafraid.

For the LORD is my strength and my might,

and he has been my salvation.

3With joy you will draw water

from the fountains of salvation,

R: You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

And you will say on that day:

give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;

Among the nations make known his deeds,

proclaim how exalted is his name.

R: You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

Sing praise to the LORD for he has done glorious things;

let this be known throughout all the earth.

6Shout with exultation, City of Zion,

for great in your midst

is the Holy One of Israel!

R: You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

 

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.

Reading 2: 1 Jn 5:1-9

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 that 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: 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: Mk 1:7-11

And this is what he proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit.”

It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, “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

Recognizing us as children

The Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord closes the cycle of Christmas. Jesus has grown up and he leaves his village and moves on with his life in a new direction. First of all, he decides to be baptized by John which meant a real change of life. To be baptized was to open one's heart to God's presence.

Jesus left his people and after baptism, moves into the desert for a time of prayer. There in the desert he meditated, no doubt, on the Word of God. It is possible that he encountered this same prophetic text that we read in this Sunday's first reading. And he would feel totally identified with what is said in that text. That would be his way of life. Without shouting, without destroying anyone, respecting everyone, but firmly proclaiming the law of God, the right of the children of God. His word would be a light for the nations, a liberating word for the oppressed and a healing word for the sick.

Jesus feels called by God for a mission. Not only that. He experienced and deeply felt that God was his Father. From then on, that profound experience never left him. It gave him the strength to fulfill his mission until the final surrender on the cross. In the second reading from the Acts of the Apostles we have the text: "He went about doing good and healing those who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him”. What more could be said about Jesus?

We need to remember and relive our Baptism to discover our authentic and deepest call to be children of God, to live at all times as children of God. The first reading is also a whole program of life if we want to be consistent with our baptism. And the best thing that could be said about us at the end of our life is that we spent our life doing good to everyone because God was with us. All the holy saints of the Church have done the same. They lived their life doing good because God was with them. Our baptism gives us this vocation because we are God's children. We have no other owner but the one who wants our freedom and our happiness, the one who wants us to be children and brothers and sisters to each other.

For your reflection

What does the Baptism I received so many years ago mean to me? Do I really feel like a child of God and a member of the community of brothers and sisters? How do I live my life, being a child of God and a brother or sister to one another?