Thoughts on the Baptism of Jesus

 

Gospel accounts of Jesus’ Baptism are quite brief, but behind them is a lot of history and imagery. Prior to Jesus’s entry, people were going to John in the wilderness and were being immersed by him in the river Jordan, from which they emerged as “baptized.”  This action evoked memories of the “baptism” which the Jewish people experienced in the time of Moses when they first entered the Promised Land.  Doing so, they emerged from slavery and homelessness and were re-established in their identity as God’s Chosen People.

In St. Luke’s gospel, we hear John the Baptist assert that it is not he but the Christ who is coming who will baptize with true authority and power.  Then, almost as an afterthought, we are told that Jesus was among those who submitted themselves to John’s baptism.   We are also told that as Jesus participated in this ritual of re-entrance into the vocation of Israel, the divine Spirit came upon him, and a heavenly voice named him as the beloved and favored Son.

The celebration of the baptism of Jesus is in large and practical sense the celebration of the Spirit of Jesus in which we his followers are called to live, today, right now.  As Jesus comes forth from the water, he undertakes a mission that will be fulfilled ultimately through others… and that includes us! It is a mission to bring the justice and peace, the love and mercy, of God to the peoples of the earth.  It is practiced by bringing those gifts to the people I encounter here and now, in my work, in my play, in my family, in the store, etc.

As we again thank God for the gift of the Savior and his saving mission, we might consider two questions: (1) In what ways do I know myself as beloved of God, the object of God’s delight?; and, (2) Experiencing myself as “favored,” what gifts is the Spirit prompting me to use to foster the mission of Jesus, his Beloved Son, among those whose paths will cross my own today? 

-Fr. Frank Reale, SJ

Thoughts on the Feeding of the 5000

 

Mark 6:34–44

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus feeds the five thousand. There is no better exemplification in the Scriptures of what I have called the loop of grace. God offers, as a sheer grace, the gift of being, but if we try to cling to that gift and make it our own, we lose it. The hungry people who gather around Jesus in this scene are symbolic of the hungry human race, starving from the time of Adam and Eve for what will satisfy. In imitation of our first parents, we have tried to fill up the emptiness with wealth, pleasure, power, honor, the sheer love of domination—but none of it works, precisely because we have all been wired for God and God is nothing but love. It is only when we conform ourselves to the way of love that we are filled. Thus, the five loaves and two fish symbolize that which has been given to us, all that we have received as a grace from God. If we appropriate it, we lose it. But if we turn it over to Christ, then we will find it transfigured and multiplied, even unto the feeding of the world. Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on the Epiphany

 

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

Matthew 2:1-12

Friends, the story of the Magi told in today’s Gospel is a summary of the principal dynamics of the spiritual life. Watching the night sky with scrupulous attention for signs of God’s purpose, the Magi evoke the importance of alertness in the spiritual order. We must keep our eyes open to see what God is up to.  Once they saw the star, they moved, despite the length of the journey. Sometimes people know what God wants them to do, but they don’t act, either out of fear, laziness, or the influence of bad habits. The Magi teach us to move.  When they spoke to Herod of the birth of a new King, he tried to use them to destroy the baby. When you walk the path that God has laid out for you, expect opposition.  The wise men came to Bethlehem and gave the child their precious gifts. When you come to Christ, break open the very best of yourself and make it a gift for him.  Finally, they returned to their home country by another route. As Fulton Sheen commented so magnificently: of course they did; for no one comes to Christ and goes back the same way he came! Bishop Robert Barron

What are we looking for?

 

Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious

John 1:35-42

Friends, in today’s Gospel, two of John the Baptist’s disciples follow Jesus and encounter him. Jesus’ question to the two young men—“What are you looking for?”—is an indispensably important one. Many people go through life not really knowing what they most fundamentally want, and accordingly, they drift. The correct answer to Jesus’ question is “eternal life” or “friendship with God” or “holiness.” This is the simple, clear, unambiguous articulation of the end goal that any believer should have as he endeavors to lead his life. Now, other people may know more or less what they want spiritually, but they lack the courage and attention to pursue that end in the face of distractions and opposition. They know that they should be growing in holiness, but the secular culture proposes sex, pleasure, power, and honor so attractively that they lose their way. Or perhaps they receive withering criticism from those who are stuck in the old, standard way of life, and they give in. What are we looking for? Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on the Trinity

 

John 1:29-34

Friends, today’s Gospel contains the first biblical presentation of the Trinity. It happened during Jesus’ baptism. The Gospel of John doesn’t include all the details, but we learn in another Gospel that after Jesus was baptized, the sky opened and John the Baptist saw the Spirit of God descend like a dove and hover over him. With that, a voice from the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” This is the first time in the Bible that the tri-personhood of God is on display, making it one of the most important theophanies in Scripture. In love, the Father sends the Son into godforsakenness, into the muddy waters of our own sin, and the Spirit is the love that connects the Father and Son, the love in which the Father sends and in which the Son is sent.  So now we see that the God who is just and demanding (and those both remain in place) is, through and through, love. Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on the Magi

Many of us enjoy a good mystery novel, movie or TV show. As the story unfolds, we begin to wonder how it is going to work itself out, and indeed we often feel an increasingly intense “need to know” as the story develops.  One important criterion of this kind of storytelling is that the conclusion cannot come completely out of nowhere.  Even with false leads, the mystery’s conclusion is satisfying only if we have been given hints of the “truth” along the way.  Another criterion is that once the mystery has been revealed, the whole plot ought to make sense.

God, it seems, has been luring us all along with his own mystery.  This Sunday’s reading from Ephesians is just one of many times when St. Paul speaks of God’s mystery, a mystery, which contrary to expectation, reveals that non-Jews and Jews alike belong to the same body and are co-heirs and partners in Christ Jesus.

Of course, like any good mystery, hints were laid from the beginning.  For example, in the book of Genesis, we learn that all the families will be blessed through Abraham.  Isaiah the prophet -- who provides us with this Sunday’s 1st reading -- often declares that God’s salvation reaches to the ends of the earth.  While the glory and light for the world are centered on Israel, that light draws peoples from all the nations.

And that brings us to the Magi whose story is told in the Gospel.  Their journey from afar, and their worship of the newborn King, manifest that God’s universal salvation has indeed come.  While God’s desire that all peoples come to know him and be saved seems obvious to us, really integrating that truth into our hearts can be very challenging.  We may believe that everyone is created in God’s image and therefore cherished by God, but we still find ourselves putting others “on the margin,” outside the circle of those whom we love.  A great gift, a great epiphany, is to know the glory of God’s love revealed in everyone we meet.  It is truly a profound mystery which challenges us to make our love more like God’s. 

Fr. Frank Reale, SJ

Thoughts on the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

Luke 2:16-21

Friends, today we celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of God. St. Irenaeus says that, throughout the history of salvation, God was trying on humanity, gradually suiting divinity and humanity to one another—preparing for the Incarnation. All of that preparation was a prelude to the Israelite girl who would say yes to the invitation to be the Mother of God. To say that Mary is the Mother of God is to insist on the density of the claim that God truly became human. As Fulton J. Sheen commented, Mary is like the moon, for her light is always the reflection of a higher light. Catholic theology has drawn a further implication from Mary’s status as Mother of God—her role as Mother of the Church. If she is the one through whom Christ was born, and if the Church is indeed Christ’s Mystical Body, then she must be, in a very real sense, the Mother of the Church. She is the one through whom Jesus continues to be born in the hearts of those who believe. This is not to confuse her with the Savior, but it is to insist on her mission as mediator and intercessor. Bishop Robert Barron