The Baptism of the Lord
Today’s first reading from the Prophet Isaiah and the Gospel of St. Luke, blend perfectly together. Isaiah’s prophecy is about John the Baptist and the coming of the Lord. John The Baptist: the voice in the wilderness, preparing a way, levelling the hills and filling in the valleys, smoothing the way for the coming of the Messiah. Jesus: ‘Here is your God’ the shepherd coming to feed His flock and gather His lambs in His arms.
There were those who thought that John was the Messiah and he had to explain to them that he wasn’t. He told them, “I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Each of the four Gospels presents Jesus’ baptism in a slightly different form, but all of them note the event of His baptism as the starting point of His ministry; when the man who had worked and lived among His family, friends and neighbours as a carpenter, took on a new role. Luke tells us that...heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily shape, like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.” This was not a form of adoption, or an appointment to this role, chosen from of old, adopted as God’s son, just like prophets, priests and kings before him. No, this was an identification, an affirmation, a confirmation of who Jesus not only is, but always was and always will be, the Son of God.
The baptism of the Lord is not only significant in terms of John’s followers seeing his prophecy come to fruition, but it’s significant because of what those present witnessed. They didn’t just witness Jesus being baptised in the river Jordan by John, which is significant in itself, they witnessed the true presence of the Divine Trinity. God the Father spoke to His Son, God the Son received the affirmation of His Father, and God the Holy Spirit appeared in bodily shape as a dove. It is true of course, that the Divine Trinity is present at all baptisms, albeit in very different settings.
Before I come out to conduct a baptism service, I have my own little prayer that I say in the sacristy:
‘O Lord, please bring the Holy Spirit upon me. To help me, to guide me, and to strengthen me. To conduct this baptism service in the manner in which you brought me to ordination so to do. With all due reverence, respect and dignity to You, Your church, this child, the parents and those gathered before me. Amen.’
I quite often use the following prayer as part of the service too:
‘We welcome you, in the presence of the Father, into the love of the creator.
We welcome you, in the presence of Christ Jesus, into the love of the saviour.
We welcome you, in the presence of the Spirit, into the love of the Life-Giver.
We welcome you, and pray that the Holy Three remain with you forever.’
Baptisms are always joyful occasions, and today is a joyful feast.
Second Sunday After Christmas
From today’s Gospel, I want to concentrate on, what for me, are three key elements of the message in this Gospel: Word, Light and Family.
Word: The first sentence in today’s Gospel is, ‘In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God.’ During Holy Mass, we listen to the Word OF God, but do we fully understand that the Word IS God? Last Saturday, we celebrated the Word becoming flesh in the birth of the baby Jesus Christ. WORD can mean many things. It can be a word in a dictionary; it can mean a message, as in: ‘Did you get word from John yet?’; it can mean a promise, as in: ‘I give you my word on that.’ It all depends on the context in which it is being used, but in the context of our faith, it can only mean one thing: God. Jesus is God, not just the Word of God. He is God’s message, God’s statement, God’s promise.
Light: The next section of the Gospel talks about Jesus being ‘a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower. The Word was the true light that enlightens all men.’ To emphasis this, during baptisms and funerals we have the Paschal candle lit. As part of the baptism service, I emphasise the fact that Christ is the Light of The World. I then ask the father or godfather to light the baptism candle from the Paschal candle. I talk about the many reasons why we light candles in church and at home. We can use them to help us pray to God and offer up a prayer of thanksgiving, or if we are struggling with something, we can ask for His help. The light of a candle during prayer helps us to understand that the flame and the smoke are rising up to God just as our prayers are. It helps us to remember that Jesus Christ was born to us to be the Light of the World, and it’s up to us to keep the flame of faith alive.
Family: The last sentence in today’s Gospel starts with: ‘The Word was made flesh, he lived among us,’ Last Sunday we celebrated the Solemnity of The Holy Family. Jesus grew up like all of us in a family – coming from the family of heaven to that of Mary and Joseph, and their extended family. All of us play an important part in the lives of our families, and Jesus certainly did in His. No family is perfect and all families have their difficulties. Joseph and Mary had to face family difficulties too. Almost immediately after Jesus was born, they had to flee and go into exile as their child could have been killed by a mad king- Herod, and they couldn’t go home for fear of him. They ‘lost’ their son for three days when He stayed behind in Jerusalem without their knowledge. Joseph died leaving Mary a widow, and Jesus was murdered in front of His mother. The Holy Family knew what family life was about, the good times and the bad times, just as we all do.
So, for me, the three key elements of this Gospel are: Word, Light and Family.
Jesus is the Word. Jesus is the Light of the world. Jesus is the heartbeat of every Family.
Christmas Mass
I think the response to the Psalm this morning, sums up the experience the shepherds had in today’s Gospel. ‘This day new light will shine upon the earth: the Lord is born for us.’
We are of course, all very familiar with this Gospel passage, the story of the shepherds going to see the baby Jesus in the manger.
I’ve been thinking about these shepherds in terms of what happened just before this Gospel passage and what happened afterwards. Verses 8-14 of this Gospel chapter tells us of the angel of the Lord standing before them, the glory of the Lord shining upon them, and the were terrified. I’m sure they were. Can you imagine them alone in the middle of the night, in a field, very dark, very quiet, and then that happens. No wonder they were terrified. Yet they were intrigued enough to follow the angel’s instructions and say to each other, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ What they witnessed was the most joyful event in salvation history, and they spread the word. But what happened to the shepherds after that? What became of them? We don’t know because we never hear from them again. They disappear from the scene. They are not mentioned during Jesus’ ministry, they are not at the foot of the cross, they do not appear in legend. In fact the only adult in the Nativity scene whom we find in later Gospel scenes is Mary. I think that’s a shame, as the shepherds are in integral part of the Nativity story. They experienced amazement, astonishment, wonder and joy.
I’ve also been thinking about how privileged those shepherds were. They were chosen by God to come and witness this wondrous event. They were the first to see and be in the presence of the Christ child, our Saviour and our Redeemer. How special is that? It must have changed their lives forever.
This then led me to realise that we too, are privileged. We can come and see the Nativity scene in our crib. We can put ourselves there, in that place, at that time, and be a part of that wondrous event. Perhaps we are even more privileged than those shepherds, because we get the opportunity to do so each year, it doesn’t have to be a ‘one-off’ experience for us. How special is that? This is a very special moment in a very special day. God came to humanity as a child so that humanity may become the children of God.
The Anglican poet Christopher Wordsworth pondered on the Incarnation and expressed it like this:
‘God comes down that man
may rise,
lifted by Him to the skies;
Christ is Son of Man that we
sons of God in Him may be.’
On this most joyful of days, may I, and also on behalf of Father Gildea and Father Raymond, wish you all a very Happy and Peaceful Christmas!
4th Sunday of Advent
Watching the news recently has, in some ways become arduous, there’s just so much bad, sad, and disturbing news. Russia’s build up of forces on it’s border with the Ukraine; the terrible tornados devastating parts of America; the emergence and rapid spread of the new Omicron variant of the Coronavirus; the shenanigans going on in our politics at the moment. The list goes on and on. We’d all get really fed up if we spent too much time thinking about these things. Instead, let’s think back to last week, Guadete Sunday, and the message of rejoicing. Well this week’s Gospel is another heart warming story to lift our spirits.
Today we hear in the Gospel of Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth. Mary had just been told of Elizabeth being pregnant even though she was getting on in years and was thought to be barren. At this time of year, we concentrate on Mary, and rightly so, but today’s Gospel is a reminder of another miraculous pregnancy and birth. That of John, born to Elizabeth and Zechariah. John of course went on to ‘pave the way’ for the coming of Jesus. Preparing the people for the arrival and teachings of Jesus. It’s easy to see that both women were overjoyed for each other although Elizabeth clearly recognised that Mary was the ‘special’ one, the ‘chosen’ one. She knew that her son would be born to carry out God’s work, but that Mary’s child, Jesus, was to be the most special one. Both women had been filled with the Holy Spirit, both had been chosen by God to serve him in a way that no other woman had ever done so before.
When I read the Gospel I had a mental picture in my mind of these two women meeting and expressing their joy and happiness for each other. Both of them pregnant in a truly unexpected way.
Some years ago, two of the women I worked with were pregnant and just about to off on maternity leave. For months they had been comparing notes, swapping stories and sharing experiences with each other in the build up to the births of their babies. They were fussing over each other and it was clear for all of us to see that there was a special bond between them. They already were close friends as well as work colleagues, but somehow them both being pregnant at the same time and one being due shortly before the other, seemed to give them a special bond. I don’t suppose they acted any differently to any other women in the same situation. As a man, I think I can understand their closeness, but I’m sure it is a bond only another woman would truly understand and be able to relate to.
Now obviously, unlike the two women I worked with, Mary and Elizabeth did not spend their time comparing notes as to what they learned at the anti-natal clinic last week, or how uncomfortable and awkward it is getting in and out of the car to drive to and from work, or how the decorating of the baby’s nursery is coming along. However, we can only try to imagine how very special the bond between them must have been. Unlike any other two expectant mothers, these two really did have something that no-one else had ever had, or will ever have again. That is why we should celebrate the miracle of both of these gifts from God. Both women were chosen by God for our sake. Let us just rejoice in this heart warming good news story.
3rd Sunday of Advent - Please see the Weekly Readings and Gospel on our Homepage.
In the first reading and the Gospel today, we hear the words of two great prophets, Baruch and Isaiah. Both of them talk about ‘levelling’ the mountains and hills, filling in the valleys, and making the ground level and the roads smooth. All of this is to reminds us that during this season of Advent, the church is concentrating on preparing us for the coming of Jesus as our Saviour. We are being called to ‘straighten’ out our lives, to level the mountains and hills to ensure justice for all of God’s people. In today’s language we may refer to this as providing a ‘level playing field’ for all, so that everyone has access to the resources of this world. We are also hearing a lot of the phrase ‘Levelling Up’ in our country, a means by which we build a better, fairer and more equal society. Well, slogans and catch phrases are cheap, but are we willing to pay the price for fulfil them? That’s not necessarily a question just for the politicians, but for all of us.
This Advent season, let us prepare for Christ’s coming by being willing to put the ‘hard yards’ into levelling up those things in our own lives that need looking at and dealing with. Are there things in my life that I could do better? Do I do enough to help others less well off than I am? What can I do to make life easier for others? And most importantly, What can I do to make sure I am ready to welcome the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ?
The Gospels of the second and third weeks of Advent focus on John the Baptist. He should not just be looked upon as the ‘warm up act’ for Jesus, he actually played a most pivotal role in the ministry of Jesus. John’s baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was the essential preparation for the coming of the Messiah.
I feel that if we immerse ourselves in the readings and Gospels this Advent, we will awaken within us, a sense of tingling excitement; not the kind that we had as a child waiting for Christmas and the presents, but one of a longing for, an expectancy of, the most wondrous event ever.
I must admit, preparing for Christmas in terms of putting up the tree, decorating the house, sending cards etc.. it takes me a while to get into all of that. Some may call me a bit of a ‘Bah Humbug’ I like to think of myself as a bit of a ‘slow burner’ from that point of view. What does awaken that tingling excitement is the whole season of Advent, and the preparation for the ‘real’ event.
Today’s first reading and Gospel have certainly got me thinking about how I should be ‘levelling the hills’ and ‘smoothing the paths’ in my own life. I hope they have for you too.
2nd Sunday of Advent - Please see the Weekly Readings and Gospel on our Homepage.
In the first reading and the Gospel today, we hear the words of two great prophets, Baruch and Isaiah. Both of them talk about ‘levelling’ the mountains and hills, filling in the valleys, and making the ground level and the roads smooth. All of this is to reminds us that during this season of Advent, the church is concentrating on preparing us for the coming of Jesus as our Saviour. We are being called to ‘straighten’ out our lives, to level the mountains and hills to ensure justice for all of God’s people. In today’s language we may refer to this as providing a ‘level playing field’ for all, so that everyone has access to the resources of this world. We are also hearing a lot of the phrase ‘Levelling Up’ in our country, a means by which we build a better, fairer and more equal society. Well, slogans and catch phrases are cheap, but are we willing to pay the price for fulfil them? That’s not necessarily a question just for the politicians, but for all of us.
This Advent season, let us prepare for Christ’s coming by being willing to put the ‘hard yards’ into levelling up those things in our own lives that need looking at and dealing with. Are there things in my life that I could do better? Do I do enough to help others less well off than I am? What can I do to make life easier for others? And most importantly, What can I do to make sure I am ready to welcome the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ?
The Gospels of the second and third weeks of Advent focus on John the Baptist. He should not just be looked upon as the ‘warm up act’ for Jesus, he actually played a most pivotal role in the ministry of Jesus. John’s baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was the essential preparation for the coming of the Messiah.
I feel that if we immerse ourselves in the readings and Gospels this Advent, we will awaken within us, a sense of tingling excitement; not the kind that we had as a child waiting for Christmas and the presents, but one of a longing for, an expectancy of, the most wondrous event ever.
I must admit, preparing for Christmas in terms of putting up the tree, decorating the house, sending cards etc.. it takes me a while to get into all of that. Some may call me a bit of a ‘Bah Humbug’ I like to think of myself as a bit of a ‘slow burner’ from that point of view. What does awaken that tingling excitement is the whole season of Advent, and the preparation for the ‘real’ event.
Today’s first reading and Gospel have certainly got me thinking about how I should be ‘levelling the hills’ and ‘smoothing the paths’ in my own life. I hope they have for you too.
1st Sunday of Advent - Please see the Weekly Readings and Gospel on our Homepage.
Our Hope And Trust In Christ Is Our Liberation From Fear!
The eleven words in the heading above sum up today’s Gospel. Yes, at first reading, it seems to be just another apocalyptic, doom and gloom reading, and we’ve had a few of those over the last few weeks. But if you read closely, you will see that it is a Gospel of Hope and Trust. The Hope that if we put our Trust in the Lord, he will liberate us from all our fears. Advent is a time of Hope. We need to look beyond all the distractions of the commercialisation of Christmas. We need to open our hearts to prepare for the joy and hope of Christ’s birth. We can do this through prayer. I came across this Advent Prayer by Renee Swope, based on Proverbs 31, that we can use during this season of Advent, to focus our hearts and minds for the coming of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ:
‘The Manger Of My Heart’
‘This Advent, Lord, come to the manger of my heart,
Fill me with Your presence from the very start.
As I prepare for the holidays and gifts to be given,
remind me of the gift You gave when You sent Your Son from Heaven.
The first Christmas gift, it was the greatest gift ever,
You came as a baby born in a manger.
Wrapped like the gifts I find under my tree,
waiting to be opened, to reveal Your love to me.
Restore to me the wonder that came with Jesus’ birth,
when He left the riches of Heaven and wrapped Himself in rags of earth.
Immanuel, God with us, Your presence came that night,
and angels announced, “Into your darkness, God brings His light.”
“Do not be afraid,” they said, to the shepherds in the field,
speak to my heart today, Lord, and help me to yield.
Make me like those shepherd boys, obedient to Your call,
setting distractions and worries aside, to You, I surrender them all.
Surround me with Your presence, Lord, I long to hear Your voice,
clear my mind of countless concerns and all the holiday noise.
Slow me down this Christmas, let me not be in a rush,
in the midst of parties and planning, I wish to feel Your hush.
This Christmas, Jesus, come to the manger of my heart,
invade my soul like Bethlehem, bringing peace to every part.
Dwell within and around me, as I unwrap Your presence each day,
keep me close to You, Lord, it’s Your wonderful name I pray.’
Beautiful, isn’t it? I think if we can say this prayer during this season of Advent, it will help us to fully understand the last sentence in today’s Gospel. ‘Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.’