Baptism of the Lord (January 12)
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Baptism of the Lord
January 12, 2025
Gospel: Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22
The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying, "I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."
After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying,
heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.
And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."
Source: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011225.cfm
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Visual Arts
Baptism of Christ
Ioan Popa and Camelia Ionesco-Popa (Romanian), 2003.
The Baptism of Christ is a contemporary depiction from Romania. This piece of art bears a semicircle at the top, which signifies the "opening of the heavens" and the voice of God reaching down. In this icon, God's hand is even visible. A dove descends from this aperture, a literalization of the Gospel writers' simile. On the shores of the Jordan stand angels at the service of their Lord. Their hands are covered by their own cloaks as a sign of reverence - or in some representations, they hold garments to drape over Christ when he emerges from the water. In this icon, there is an allegorical figure in the river by Christ's feet, pouring out water from a jug. This man is a personification of the Jordan River, which miraculously dried up, temporarily, to allow the ancient Israelites to cross over to the Promised Land.
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Sacred Music
Gather At the Water
Sarah Hart
Lyrics
We will gather at the water,
gather at the water.
We will gather at the water
and receive new life.
From the first of creation,
love breathed upon the waters,
beyond oceans to this font.
Now, in this beginning,
in this goodness flowing,
receive the welcome of our God.
When the Red Sea was parted,
love freed us from enslavement.
Still he makes a way for us.
Just as he stood in the Jordan,
he is standing with you;
receive the mercy of our God.
In this spring of belonging,
this sacrament of water,
you are signed and sealed by love.
By name he has called you,
in grace he clothes you;
receive the garment of our God.
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Poetry
“Called to Say Yes”
Edwina Gateley
We are called to say yes.
That the kingdom might break through
To renew and to transform
Our dark and groping world.
We stutter and we stammer
To the lone God who calls
And pleads a New Jerusalem
In the bloodied Sinai Straights.
We are called to say yes
That honeysuckle may twine
And twist its smelling leaves
Over the graves of nuclear arms.
We are called to say yes
That children might play
On the soil of Vietnam where the tanks
Belched blood and death.
We are called to say yes
That black may sing with white
And pledge peace and healing
For the hatred of the past.
We are called to say yes
So that nations might gather
And dance one great movement
For the joy of humankind.
We are called to say yes
So that rich and poor embrace
And become equal in their poverty
Through the silent tears that fall.
We are called to say yes
That the whisper of our God
Might be heard through our sirens
And the screams of our bombs.
We are called to say yes
To a God who still holds fast
To the vision of the Kingdom
For a trembling world of pain.
We are called to say yes
To this God who reaches out
And asks us to share
His crazy dream of love.
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Reflection
Recall the last Baptism you attended and how you saw God present there?
What does your baptismal identity mean to you? How do you life out the vows that you made (or your parents made on your behalf) at your baptism?
- How do you experience God's ongoing work of creative restoration? How can you partner with God in renewing the world and infusing it with beauty and goodness?
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O God, grant that we may desire you, and desiring you, seek you, and seeking you, find you, and finding you, be satisfied forever.
Francis Xavier, 1506-1552
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