Today, the Church in Canada and the United States are observing the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The gospel passage proposed for today's liturgy places us with John on the shores of the river Jordan. Try to picture the scene: John is standing in the river and one by one, people are coming to him, asking to be baptized, as a sign of repentance for their sins, a new beginning. John knew that there was one mightier than he who was coming ... that he was not worthy even to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals (Mk 1:7).
The story gets even more intriguing: It happened in those days that Jesus came ... and was baptized in the Jordan by John (Mk 1:9). What a humbling thought: Jesus - who was without sin - stood in line and waited his turn so that he could be baptized by John as a sign of repentance for sin ... and as he came out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open, the Spirit - like a dove - descending upon him, and heard a voice from heaven say 'You are my son, my beloved' (Mk 7:10-11).
In his Angelus address yesterday, the Holy Father reminded us that this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is an invitation for all of us to remember our own Baptism. Perhaps we are fortunate enough to remember that day, but if we were children at the time, perhaps we can only remember the date when it happened. it is important for us to keep this memory alive for it was on that day that we were first blessed by God, the day when we became part of the family of faith. This was the day when the Father gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit and it is the Holy Spirit that spurs us on every day, helping us to live our faith in the world. May the Holy Spirit continue to help us always to share the gift of our faith with those we meet.
Have a great day.
No comments:
Post a Comment