Saint Rita Catholic Church and School in Webster, NY - An Introduction to Sunday's Scripture Readings

“You Are My Beloved Son; With You I Am Well Pleased”

Today's liturgy of the Baptism of the Lord marks the conclusion of our liturgical celebrations of the miracle of Christmas. God entered humanity at Jesus' birth and now again, God entered into humanity in His baptism.

Jesus stood in line with sinners to be baptized by John. It was a mark of humility in truly being one with us. "For our sake He made Him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor 5:21).

In our first reading (Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7), we hear from the first of four "Servant Songs of Isaiah". These four poems were seen by the early Church, and ever since, to refer to the Anointed One, the Christ. In this first poem, it is God's selection of the Servant who would be a "covenant of the people, a light for the nations." He is “my chosen one with whom I am pleased.”

In our Epistle reading (Titus 2:11-14,3:4-7), St. Paul tells us that because of the appearance of Christ, we have been trained to reject godless ways and to live temperately, justly and devoutly as we “await the blessed hope, the appearance of our great God and savior Jesus Christ.” Paul tells us this is “not because of any righteous deeds we had done, but because of his mercy.” Our hope is that we will become heirs of eternal life.

In our Gospel reading (Luke 3:15-16, 21-22), we hear of the baptism of Jesus, what happened before and what happened after. John proclaimed "one mightier than I is coming". After Jesus was baptized and praying, the Father and the Spirit make known their participation in this event—”You are my beloved son . . .”. From this point on, Jesus will baptize with the "Holy Spirit and fire", preaching, teaching and healing.

In our readings today, we are reminded that Baptism is the gateway to life in the Spirit. We are reminded of our own baptism - our own anointing by the Holy Spirit as priest, prophet and king. We are called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, "doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil." This is a mission we would have no ability to do except by the grace of the Holy Spirit.