January 9, 2016

Baptism of the Lord - C


Commentary


Beloved Son”

In describing Jesus' baptism, Luke includes three details: heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit descended, and the voice from heaven spoke to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

By coming into the world, Jesus opened heaven for all humanity. Now, at our baptism, the Holy Spirit descends upon us. As we are baptized into the death of Jesus, we rise with him and become sons and daughters of God. The Father speaks to each of us the same words, “You are my beloved Son/Daughter; with you I am well pleased.”

Later on, as Jesus begins his public ministry, he will speak of how, with the Holy Spirit, who is “upon” him, he will live out his mission as the Son of God. [1] In two weeks, we will hear this proclamation from Luke 4: 18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

In this Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has invited us ask God to give us the grace to live out this same mission of Jesus, as sons and daughters of God. And in this way, we can become “merciful like the Father” (Reference: Prayer for the Year of Mercy)

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[1] http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com

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