20190113
THE
GRACE AND OBLIGATIONS OF BAPTISM
13 JANUARY,
2019, Sunday, Baptism of the Lord
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
EITHER:
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First reading
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Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11 ©
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The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all
mankind shall see it
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‘Console my people, console them’
says your God.
‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem
and call to her
that her time of service is ended,
that her sin is atoned for,
that she has received from the hand of the
Lord
double punishment for all her crimes.’
A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness
a way for the Lord.
Make a straight highway for our God
across the desert.
Let every valley be filled in,
every mountain and hill be laid low.
Let every cliff become a plain,
and the ridges a valley;
then the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed
and all mankind shall see it;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
Go up on a high mountain,
joyful messenger to Zion.
Shout with a loud voice,
joyful messenger to Jerusalem.
Shout without fear,
say to the towns of Judah,
‘Here is your God.’
Here is the Lord coming with power,
his arm subduing all things to him.
The prize of his victory is with him,
his trophies all go before him.
He is like a shepherd feeding his flock,
gathering lambs in his arms,
holding them against his breast
and leading to their rest the mother ewes.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 103(104):1-4,24-25,27-30 ©
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Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are.
Lord God, how great you are,
clothed in majesty and glory,
wrapped in light as in a robe!
You stretch out the heavens
like a tent.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are.
Above the rains you build your dwelling.
You make the clouds your chariot,
you walk on the wings of the
wind,
you make the winds your messengers
and flashing fire your
servant.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are.
How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you have made them
all.
The earth is full of your
riches.
There is the sea, vast and wide,
with its moving swarms past
counting,
living things great and small.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are.
All of these look to you
to give them their food in due
season.
You give it, they gather it up:
you open your hand, they have
their fill.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are.
You hide your face, they are dismayed;
you take back your spirit,
they die.
You send forth your spirit, they are
created;
and you renew the face of the
earth.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are.
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Second reading
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Titus 2:11-14,3:4-7 ©
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He saved us by means of the cleansing water of
rebirth
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God’s grace has been revealed, and it has
made salvation possible for the whole human race and taught us that what we
have to do is to give up everything that does not lead to God, and all our
worldly ambitions; we must be self-restrained and live good and religious lives
here in this present world, while we are waiting in hope for the blessing which
will come with the Appearing of the glory of our great God and saviour Christ
Jesus. He sacrificed himself for us in order to set us free from all
wickedness and to purify a people so that it could be his very
ownand would have no ambition except to do good.
But when the kindness and love
of God our saviour for mankind were revealed, it was not because he was
concerned with any righteous actions we might have done ourselves; it was for
no reason except his own compassion that he saved us, by means of the cleansing
water of rebirth and by renewing us with the Holy Spirit which he has so
generously poured over us through Jesus Christ our saviour. He did this so that
we should be justified by his grace, to become heirs looking forward to
inheriting eternal life.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Lk3:16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Someone is coming, said John, someone
greater than I.
He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit
and with fire.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 3:15-16,21-22 ©
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'Someone is coming who will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and fire'
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A feeling of expectancy had grown among
the people, who were beginning to think that John might be the Christ, so John
declared before them all, ‘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. Now when all
the people had been baptised and while Jesus after his own baptism was at
prayer, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily shape,
like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my
favour rests on you.’
THE GRACE AND
OBLIGATIONS OF BAPTISM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Isa 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps 104: Tit 2:11-14; 3:4-7; Lk 3:15-16, 21-22 ]
What is unique about
Christianity? Faith in the
incarnation or the resurrection is not peculiar to the Christian Faith.
Other religions also believe in some form of incarnation of gods, and even
resurrection. Perhaps, what makes Christianity different from other
religions is that we believe in the doctrine of grace. In other
words, salvation is purely the grace of God; not the work of man. Grace
is given to us irrespective of what we have done in life. We cannot earn
merits before God but we are called to receive His love, mercy and salvation
graciously.
In most religions, there
is always a belief in some form of Karma, the effects of what we do in life, good or
evil. If we do evil, we will be punished. If we do good, we will be
rewarded. In other words, what we sow is what we reap. Even St Paul
appeared to affirm this principle. “Do not be deceived: God cannot
be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their
flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please
the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Gal 6:7f) However, the context of St
Paul’s saying is that bad consequences will happen to us when we reject the
grace of God.
This grace is given to
us through Jesus Christ.
It is said that the word, “GRACE” is the acronym for “God’s Riches At Christ’s
Expense.” Through Christ, we are given the grace of salvation freely and
without reservation. This is what the second reading from Titus tells
us. “When the kindness and love of God our saviour for mankind were
revealed, it was not because he was concerned with any righteous actions we
might have done ourselves; it was for no reason except his own compassion that
he saved us, by means of the cleansing water of rebirth and by renewing us with
the Holy Spirit which he has so generously poured over us through Jesus Christ
our saviour. He did this so that we should be justified by his grace, to become
heirs looking forward to inheriting eternal life.”
Baptism, therefore, is
the expression of this grace of God given to us freely for our salvation. There are no conditions for
baptism except faith in His grace alone. We are justified through
faith in Jesus Christ who wrought for us the grace of reconciliation. St Paul
in his letter to the Romans wrote, “This righteousness is given through
faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference
between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through
the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a
sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received
by faith.” (Rom 3:22-25)
The baptism of children
is a clear example of grace, when they are made sons and daughters of God,
heirs of Christ without any merit of their own to show. St Paul wrote to the
Ephesians, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith –
and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that
no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in
Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to
do.” (Eph 2:8-10) They
are given a new life in Christ and assured of eternal life. All who are
baptized are given a new dignity as adopted sons and daughters of God through
the forgiveness of sins and the bestowing of the Holy Spirit. Our sins
are what cause us to lose our sonship and daughtership. With our sins
taken away by Christ and the bestowing of the Holy Spirit, we are now able to
live out our sonship and daughtership in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Only in the Holy Spirit, can we live out our sonship. From now on,
even if we do good, it is not something that we can boast about except that the
grace of God enables us to do good. St Paul wrote, “I will boast all the
more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on
me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in
insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I
am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:9f)
We can do good also
because of the example that Christ has set for us to follow. He has
taught us how to love and how to be good. “God’s grace has been revealed, and it has made
salvation possible for the whole human race and taught us that what we have to
do is to give up everything that does not lead to God, and all our worldly
ambitions. He sacrificed himself for us in order to set us free from all
wickedness and to purify a people so that it could be his very own and would
have no ambition except to do good.” Indeed, Christ has revealed to us
our destiny in life, which is to share in the fullness of life with God.
We are called to die to ourselves with Him in baptism so that our lives will be
reflective of our sonship in Him.
Hence, today as we
celebrate the Baptism of our Lord, we are reminded to be grateful for our own
baptism. Being baptized is not just for our own salvation but baptism
also means that we are given a mission as well to bring others to Christ. The baptism of Jesus was the
beginning of His mission. Whereas the feasts of Christmas and Epiphany
celebrate the human face of God in Jesus, the feast of baptism reveals the
divine face of man by showing our real identity as God’s sons and
daughters. This is who we are. Necessarily, baptism obliges
us to live out our sonship and daughtership seriously so that others will come
to see the human face of God in us and the divine face in man. St Paul
urges us, “we must be self restrained and live good and religious lives here in
this present world, while we are waiting in hope for the blessing which will
come with the Appearing of the glory of our great God and saviour Christ
Jesus.”
Thus, baptism imposes on
us the duty of witnessing to the Lord and to be apostles of Christ. The command of the Lord before He
ascended into heaven was this, “Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age.” (Mt 28:19f) Like
John the Baptist and the prophet Isaiah, we are to be joyful messengers of the
Lord. “Shout without fear, say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your
God.’ Here is the Lord coming with power, his arm subduing all things to
him. The prize of his victory is with him, his trophies all go before
him. He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his
arms, holding them against his breast and leading to their rest the mother ewes.”
We are called to clear
the path for people to accept the Lord into their lives by helping them to
remove all the obstacles that prevent them from coming to the Lord because of
pride, fear, selfishness and brokenness. This is what the Suffering Servant said,
“Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord. Make a straight highway for our
God across the desert. Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill
be laid low, let every cliff become plain, and the ridges a valley; then the
glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all mankind shall see it; for the mouth
of the Lord has spoken.” Many people today are too wounded to be able to
see the face of God because of the injustices they suffered or their pride of
intellect, thinking they can solve all problems of life and find happiness in
pleasure, power and success. To such people, we bring the Good
News, words of consolation and encouragement. “Console my people,
console them. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call to her that her time of
service is ended, that her sin is atoned for.” Jesus began His mission
thus, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the
prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed
free to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Lk 4:18f)
This mission is possible
only when we become conscious of the dignity of our sonship and daughtership in
Christ. We read,
“While Jesus after his own baptism was at prayer, heaven opened and the Holy
Spirit descended on him in bodily shape, like a dove. And a voice came
from the heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests with
you.'” To regain our sonship, like Jesus, we need to enter into prayer
and intimacy with the Father so that the Spirit of God can rest upon us anew
and reinforce our consciousness that we are sons and daughters of God so that
we can live accordingly in the power of His Spirit.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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