"Con
là Con yêu dấu của Cha, Con đẹp lòng Cha".
Hôm
nay chúng ta cử hành trọng thể mừng ngày Chúa chịu Phép Rửa và cũng là ngày kết
thúc mùa phụng vụ Giáng Sinh Giáo Hội muốn nhắc nhở chúng ta về Phép Rửa của
chúng ta, không phải chỉ là việc chúng ta
được thánh tẩy nhưng điều quan trọng hơn là chúng ta được làm con cái của
Thiên Chúa.
Trong
tinh thần bí tích Thánh Tẩy của chúng ta, không phải là việc áp đặt một tín ngưỡng hay
lễ nghi, nhưng được hiểu là một lời kêu gọi chia sẻ một cuộc sống. Trong Phép Rửa
của chúng ta, mỗi người chúng ta được mời
gọi sống một cuộc sống nhân ái và trung thực, với lòng từ bi và sự tha thứ,
trong sự công bằng và yêu thương. Những
cách mà chúng ta đang sống là bằng chứng xác thực về sự thật của Phép Rửa mà
chúng ta đã nhận được.
Một ngưởi thực sự đã chịu Phép Rửa
là một người biết sống ngay lành, sống
bên cánh phải của một cuộc sống trong thế giới đảo lộn. Chúng ta sống một cuộc sống của mình theo cách bình dị trong đức
Tin mà không hể đem lại cho thế giới bất cứ vấn đề, hay trở ngại, nhưng là góp
phần trong những giải pháp cho các vấn đề
của thế giới hiện tại. Một ngườ đã nhận Phép Rửa thực sự thì họ luôn có sự hiện diện tình yêu noi họ
trong thế giới ngày nay.
Làm thế nào để chúng ta có thế sống
trong sứ vụ tình yêu này theo sự đòi hỏi
trong Phép Rửa ? Giáo Hội Công Giáo của chúng ta có rất nhiều
người Kitô hữu “đã nghỉ hưu",
nghĩa là Họ là những người không còn phải là người lữ hành trên đường đến
với Chúa chính gốc, vì họ không chịu thăng tiến trong cuộc sống, họ là con người
đã nhận lấy Phép Rửa, nhưng vẫn tiếp tục sống trong tình trạng tội lỗi của họ
,và sống với anh em của họ như sống với kẻ thù. Một người đã thật sự nhận Phép
Rửa, là người biết kinh hoàng , sợ hãi với trạng tội lỗi của mình và tội lỗi của
thế giới.
Khi nhận Phép Rửa, chúng ta không
phải chỉ được ơn tha thứ tội nguyên tổ mà thôi, Nhưng Phép Rửa còn là một sự thách thức và một
sự kêu gọi chúng ta biết sống một đời sống thánh thiện, sống trong tình yêu
thương. Chúng ta càng hiểu biết về bí tích Thánh Tẩy, chúng ta sẽ càng không
hài lòng với cuộc sống không có mục đích và định hướng của chúng ta, chúng ta
càng sẽ khao khát cho sự thánh thiện. Nếu chúng ta muốn thuyết phục người khác
về giá trị của Phép Rửa của họ, chúng ta phải biết sống với những sự thách thức
đang đòi hỏi nơi chúng ta. Chúng ta phải sống đức tin mà chúng ta đã tuyên xưng
khi chúng ta nhận Phép Rửa để chúng ta có thể giúp những người khác tin vào
Thiên Chúa và sống đời sống đức tin của họ.
Lạy Chúa, xin cho chúng con nhận được
những ân sủng của Chúa ban để tham dự vào mối quan hệ tình yêu thương này với
Thiên Chúa Ba Ngôi và có được cuộc sống mới. Qua bí tích rửa tội, Xin giúp
chúng con biết tin tưởng và theo Chúa Giêsu Kitô, Con Thiên Chúa, Chúa chúng
con.
Reflection:
"You are my Son, the Beloved, the One
I have chosen." The baptism of Jesus by his cousin John the Baptist at the
Jordan River inaugurates Jesus' mission to the poor and sinners. Today's feast
which ends the liturgical Christmas season reminds us of our own baptism, not
so much of our being cleansed but, more important, of our being made adopted
children of God called to be men and women for others.
The spirit of our baptism is not to just
impose a creed or ritual but is meant to be a call to share a life. In our
baptism each one of us is called to a life of kindness and honesty, of
compassion and forgiveness, of fairness and love. The type of life we live is
the real evidence of the reality of our baptism.
One truly baptized is a person who lives
right-side-up in a world that is upside-down. He/she lives his/her life in such
a way that he/she does not add to the world's problems but is part of the
solution to the world's problems. One truly baptized is the presence of love in
today's world.
How do we live this mission of love
demanded by our baptism? Our Church has so many "retired" Christians,
those who are not genuine pilgrims because they do not advance in life,
baptized people who continue in their sinfulness and with their fraternization
with the enemy. One truly baptized is one horrified at his/her own sinfulness
and the sinfulness of the world.
Our baptism is not only about the
forgiveness of original sin. Our baptism is a challenge and a call to live holy
lives, lives of love. The better we understand our baptism, the more we will be
dissatisfied with lives without purpose or direction and the more we will
aspire for holiness. If we wish to convince others of the value of their
baptism, we must live the challenges demanded of us by our baptism. We have to
live the faith we professed when we were baptized to be able to help others
believe in God and live lives of faith.
Baptism of the
Lord—Feast
Introductory Prayer: Lord, thank you for this time to be with you. I believe
in you. I believe you are here with me and want to speak with me today. I wish
to open my heart to hear your word and put it into practice out of love for
you.
Petition: Lord, help me to grow in the virtue of humility.
1. Jesus
Lines up with Sinners: John
was preaching a baptism of repentance, and many people were coming to John to
repent of their sins. They wanted to change the direction of their lives and be
reconciled with God. Jesus came along with the crowd. Even though he is the
sinless one, he numbered himself among the others and proceeded to the Jordan
as if he were a sinner like them. To appreciate this gesture, we need only to
recall how much we resent it when we are perceived as guilty for something we
didn’t do. It’s even costly to have our real faults pointed out to others. Yet
here, even when he is so far from the slightest stain of guilt, Jesus
peacefully and humbly accepts being labeled a sinner like everyone else. He
does this for our sake. Am I overly concerned about how I appear to others so
that this negatively affects my good deeds?
2. A
Humility that Bows to the Father’s Will: John did not want to baptize Jesus because he knew that Jesus
was not like the others. Yet Jesus made it clear that this was part of the
Father’s plan, and this plan was the driving force in his life. Pride did not
get in the way of Jesus’ obedience. Instead, his Father’s will was the food
that fed and nourished his life. “My food is to do the will of the Father and
to finish his work” (John 4:34). What does my own heart “feed on”? If it is not
fed on the Father’s will, then could pride be subtly at work turning me into my
own highest purpose?
3. A
Father’s Blessing: Heaven
responded to Christ’s obedience. This moment foreshadows the definitive opening
of heaven to mankind’s salvation, accomplished through Christ’s sacrifice on
Calvary. The heart of sacrifice is obedience, which is impossible without
humility. Jesus humbled himself before John the Baptist. The Father saw his
obedience and was pleased, praising him out loud: “This is my beloved Son.” To
listen to him is to follow his example.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, thank you for the gift of yourself. Teach me
to be humble. It is hard for me to put others ahead of myself, to take second
place, and to let others win the praise and glory I crave for myself. Help me
be humble and seek repentance from all sin in my life. I need your help to do
your will. Strengthen and guide me in your service.
Resolution: I will do a hidden act of charity for someone.
Baptism of the
Lord—Feast
It happened in those days that
Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming
up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a
dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my
beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” ~Mark 1:9–11
The Feast of the Baptism of the
Lord is a liturgical bridge that connects the Christmas season to Ordinary
Time. During the Christmas season we pondered the Incarnation, Nativity,
Presentation in the Temple, and Epiphany. Today, we see Jesus manifesting Himself
to the world as He began His three years of public ministry.
Jesus begins His ministry
through an act of deep solidarity with the fallen human race. John the Baptist
had been preaching in the desert and offering a baptism of repentance. John’s
baptism was not the same as our baptism today. Instead, it was only a sign of
one’s willingness to turn away from sin and turn toward God. Jesus, of course,
had nothing to repent of. He was sinless in every way. But that didn’t stop Him
from freely choosing to receive the baptism of repentance. Why would He do
that?
Simply put, Jesus chose to
unite Himself with fallen humanity, taking upon Himself our own sins and
suffering their consequences. He humbly allowed Himself to be identified as a
sinner in need of repentance. This was done out of love for us and out of His
longing to become one with us so that we could become one with Him.
By bowing His sacred head to
receive the baptism of repentance, Jesus united Himself and His divinity to
everyone who had already chosen to repent. And He gave power to every
forthcoming act of repentance others would make, even until today. When we
repent today, we meet Jesus in that same water of repentance.
It was not only the Eternal Son
Who was present at that baptism of repentance, but the Father and the Holy
Spirit as well. The Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and the
Father’s Voice spoke to acknowledge His oneness with His Son. Therefore, every
time we make a humble act of repentance, such as when we combine the
crucifixion, the Trinity, and holy water upon entering a church and blessing
ourselves, we not only meet our Lord but also receive the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit and share more fully in our adoption as sons and daughters of the
Father in Heaven.
As we commemorate Jesus’
baptism liturgically, we celebrate the fact that our Christian baptism was the
beginning of this new unity with the Holy Trinity. But we also celebrate our
oneness with God, which is renewed every time we make an interior act of repentance
for our sins. If we fully understood what happens every time we acknowledge our
sins and repent of them, we would never grow tired of repenting. Every time we
acknowledge and repent of our sin, we meet Christ anew, receive a greater
outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and affirm and deepen our adoption by the Father
in Heaven.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
You came to me in my baptism and united me in my fallenness with You in Your
divinity. I pray that I will continuously be aware of all that divides us and
will never grow weary of repenting of my sin. I do repent once again, dear
Lord. I beg for Your mercy and forgiveness and open myself more fully to You,
Your Father, and the Holy Spirit. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I trust in You.
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