Deacon Tom Anthony

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
Lectionary: 21

Reading 1 Is 42:1-4, 6-7

Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10

R/ (11b)  The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Give to the LORD, you sons of God,
give to the LORD glory and praise,
Give to the LORD the glory due his name;
adore the LORD in holy attire.
R/ The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters,
the LORD, over vast waters.
The voice of the LORD is mighty;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.
R/ The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The God of glory thunders,
and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
The LORD is enthroned above the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as king forever.
R/ The Lord will bless his people with peace.

Reading 2 Acts 10:34-38

Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered
in the house of Cornelius, saying:
“In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.
You know the word that he sent to the Israelites
as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all,
what has happened all over Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism
that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.”

Alleluia Mk 9:7

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

Gospel Mt 3:13-17

Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan
to be baptized by him.
John tried to prevent him, saying,
“I need to be baptized by you,
and yet you are coming to me?”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us
to fulfill all righteousness.”
Then he allowed him.
After Jesus was baptized,
he came up from the water and behold,
the heavens were opened for him,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and coming upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens, saying,
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 The Apostle Peter tells us today in the Second Reading that God shows no partiality. When we fear God and love Him  we are then accepted by Him completely. When this is done correctly it is done in response to Him loving us. We were created out of love to be loved and in turn love God and one another with that same love that created us in the first place. When there is love there is no judgment and no preconditions to being accepted by those who are loving and those who are the receivers of the love. There is a unity that is created out of this experience and one that emphasizes non-judgment and acceptance above all things. No one is better than anyone else and all have the capability to be receivers of God if we just open up to what He is offering.

Early on in His ministry Jesus set out after His baptism and proceeded to heal all of those oppressed by the devil. There is a definite contrast presented here: a life with Jesus and a life without Jesus. A life without Jesus is one that is corrupted by evil, for where there is an absence of good evil naturally abounds. When Jesus becomes present evil automatically flees because nothing can conquer the perfect good. When we accept a relationship with Jesus Christ we are inviting in the perfect good and with that good we are transformed into something greater than ourselves. Our birthright as Children of God is realized and our potential becomes limitless because Jesus himself is limitless. There is a merging of us and Him as we are intertwined with The Trinity and share in the relationship therein. Evil and all of its influences flee from us and we are made a more perfect creation. Everything that we experience then takes on a different meaning because it is witnessed through the presence of the perfect good. Nothing can go wrong with the presence of the perfect good.

Today marks the celebration of the Baptism of Jesus Christ. When Christ was baptized it was done so reluctantly by John the Baptist. John was performing a Baptism of Repentance which was something that Christ did not require or need since He was God and was perfect. Yet Jesus had John the Baptist do it anyway as an example to follow. To be a follower of Jesus we must all make the commitment to acknowledge our sins and repent from our past behaviors. The Baptism of the Lord marks the first full revelation of the Trinity: The Holy Spirit descended on the Son while the Father spoke, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”  Jesus being baptized signifies that to be fully incorporated into the relationship of the Trinity we must acknowledge our shortcomings and then make a commitment to do better as a Child of God. This will then lead to a transformative experience through a relationship with the Trinity. Jesus is the gate to the Father while the Holy Spirit draws us towards them with the presence of God’s Love.

Acknowledging our sins and repenting for them is something that we do as Christians every day. The entire Catholic Mass is about repentance and forgiveness. We are encouraged to continuously ask for forgiveness and acknowledge our shortcomings because through the forgiveness that God offers there is healing and hope for the future. This hope lies in a right relationship with God that has as its foundation love. There is no shame in admitting that we are wrong and could do better. In fact, being honest and truthful with ourselves gives us strength because our sins are washed away and only the perfect good remains. This is what sets us apart from the rest of the world: we strive to reveal our shortcomings and weaknesses whereupon these things become our greatest strengths because they no longer have power over us. That power has been crushed by God who is our greatest advocate.  

God goes before us and we are invited to follow Him. He knows the way to a better life and will willingly show us the way if we just follow Him

Deacon Tom