The Baptism of the Lord – Year C

From the Gospel according to Saint Luke

At that time, the people who had come to John the Baptist were waiting, and they all wondered within themselves whether John was not the Christ. Then John said to them all: « I baptise you with water, but he is coming who is stronger than I am. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. As all the people were being baptized, and as Jesus was also being baptized and praying, heaven opened. The Holy Spirit, in bodily form, like a dove, descended upon Jesus, and there was a voice from heaven: « You are my beloved Son; in you I rejoice. (Lk 3, 15-16.21-22)

Author +FATHER MARY LANDRY C+MPS

Baptism of Jesus

Thank you for the Holy Spirit who watches over us and watches with us. Open my heart, Lord, so that the Holy Spirit may take up all the space in it.  Today we can contemplate Jesus already grown up. The Child in the Manger has become a complete, mature and respectable man, and the time is coming when he will have to work at the mission that the Father has entrusted to him.

And so we find him as he is about to begin this task in the river Jordan: among the men of his time who were going to listen to John, to ask him for the baptismal bath as a sign of cleanliness and inner renewal. And it is there that He is discovered and signalled by God : « Jesus was praying and then the sky opened. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in bodily form, like a dove. A voice was heard from heaven: ‘You are my Son; this day I have begotten you’ ». (Lk 3, 21-22).

This is the preparatory stage of the great path that he will follow and that will lead him to the Cross. It is the first act of his public life, his investiture as Messiah.  It is also the announcement of his style: he will not act violently, nor with cries or noise, but silently and gently. He will not break the bent reed but will help it to stand upright. He will open the eyes of the blind and set the captives free. The messianic signs described by Isaiah will be fulfilled in Him.

We are all beneficiaries, for as we read today in St Paul’s letter : « He saved us. He did it in his mercy, not because of any meritorious deeds we might have done on our own. By the bath of baptism he has made us born again and renewed us in the Holy Spirit. God has poured out this Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that by his grace we have become righteous and have the inheritance of eternal life in hope » (Titus 3, 5-7).

The feast of the Baptism of Jesus should remind us of our own Baptism and of the commitment that our parents and godparents made on our behalf when they presented us to the Church to make us disciples of Jesus : « Baptism has freed us from all the defilements of sin, but with the grace of God we must do all that is good » (St Caesarius of Arles).

What joy, Lord, to know that you are loved by the Father and that we are loved by the Holy Trinity! Keep me in this joy so that I can carry out my ministry leaving all the space to you. Let us cultivate the joy of being sons or daughters of the Father so that we can do his will with greater lightness and happiness.

God has poured out this Spirit on us in abundance through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that by his grace we have become righteous and have the inheritance of eternal life in hope » (Titus 3:5-7). The feast of the Baptism of Jesus should remind us of our own Baptism and of the commitment that our parents and godparents made on our behalf when they presented us to the Church to make us disples of Jesus: « Baptism has freed us from all the defilements of sin, but with the grace of God we must do all that is good » (St Caesarius of Arles).

What joy, Lord, to know that you are loved by the Father and that we are loved by the Holy Trinity! Keep me in this joy so that I can carry out my ministry leaving all the space to you. Let us cultivate the joy of being sons or daughters of the Father so that we can do his will with greater lightness and happiness.

Add-ons

◊ Deacon Michel houyoux : click here to read the paper  →  The Baptism of the Lord – Year C

♥ Jesus, John the baptist & Baptism