And so Christmas is over, and we begin with Ordinary Time once more, but on the First Sunday we immediately start with a Feast. Today we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. Let’s just watch the Gospel in film clip from the great Jesus of Nazareth movie.
The opening of heaven with the Voice of the Father and the descent of the Holy Spirit is a theophany.
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.”
~Lk 3:15-16, 21-22
That is such a moving
clip from the most iconic of Jesus movies.
Now let the video gel in your mind and then listen to Bishop Barron give
the best explanation of why Jesus had to be baptized in his homily this week.
It is not just because Jesus sanctifies the water for all to undergo baptism, though it is that too. He was baptized to prepare Himself as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. That homily knocked my socks off. That is one of Bishop Barron’s all-time best.
I like to pair an exegesis homily with a homily
that draws out the pastoral significance of the passage. This week I present from
St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Lancaster, PA Fr. Peter Hahn’s homily.
Sunday Meditation: “Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.”
For the hymn this week, let’s go with the
Negro Spiritual, “Wade in the Water.”
Negro spirituals are so good. I love that hymn. I don’t know Cynthia Liggins Thomas but that
is beautiful.
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