YOU ARE MY BELOVED SON
Introduction
Today, the Gospel gives us Mark’s account of the baptism of Jesus. We look at it in the spirit of the Christmas season. On Christmas, he manifested himself as a child, God as human in his weakness, through he was the Son of God. At the Epiphany, he manifested himself to the Gentiles as the Saviour of all of humankind. Today, he manifests himself as the Son intensely loved by the Father, with the Spirit resting on him and guiding him. This scene is the inaugural vision of his public life. Now, he can begin his mission. For us, too, it is a reminder that in Jesus, we become God’s beloved sons and daughters, and in our baptism began our mission as Christians.
Opening Prayer
God, our Father,
with your whole people reborn in baptism
we give you thanks and praise
that in Jesus each of us has become
your beloved son or daughter.
Fill us with the fire of the Holy Spirit
who guided Jesus in life and death.
Let this Spirit set us free for our mission
to serve you and one another
with unselfish, grateful love.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord. Amen!
1 Reading – 1 JOHN 5:5-13
Beloved: Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ, not by water alone, but by water and Blood. The Spirit is the one who testifies, and the Spirit is truth. So there are three that testify, the Spirit, the water, and the Blood, and the three are of one accord. If we accept human testimony, the testimony of God is surely greater. Now the testimony of God is this, that he has testified on behalf of his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar by not believing the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God.
Responsorial PSALM 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem. or: Alleluia.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you. R.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word! R.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia. R.
Alleluia MARK 9:6
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The heavens were opened and the voice of the Father thundered:
This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MARK 1:7-11
This is what John the Baptist proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 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.”
Commentary
Those who believe in Jesus conquer the world
Throughout history there have been people who wanted to conquer the world: Alexander the Great, the Caesars, Napoleon, Adolph Hitler, to name a few. They were consumed with the lust for power and they thought they could achieve their goal by bloodshed. Adolf Hitler and even many other contemporaries of our times were responsible for the deaths and atrocities against humanity in their attempts to conquer the world.
Ironically St. John in today’s first reading tells us that one who is the conqueror of the world is the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Of course, he is speaking of a different kind of conquest, one which overcomes sin, evil, and everlasting death. We can become conquerors through faith in Jesus Christ because he has won the great victory for us. This would be a strange kind of victory in the twisted mind of emperors and autocrats of the world. Strangest of all, the victory has come about through bloodshed, but not the blood of innocent millions but through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Ambition is a drive which can become so strong that it blinds a person to true values. Faith in Jesus should be like a light which illumines reality so that we can see the real purpose of life and to perceive what we really should be working for. We have a promise that this goal is already ours in every Mass we celebrate.
Jesus declares to us: “This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.” This covenant is God’s promise that eternal life is ours. This promise is sealed in the blood of Christ, the same blood of which we partake under the appearance of wine.
History has called many people with the title “Great,” but God has made each one of us great through the blood of his Son.
Intercessions
– For the Church and its leaders, that all of us may not seek compromises with wealth and power but learn to commit ourselves in love and to help the poor, we pray:
– For Christians and for all people, that the Holy Spirit may guide us to respect what is little and defenseless, that we may not crush them but give them justice, we pray:
– For us and for all our Christian communities, that the Eucharist may strengthen in us the gifts of the Holy Spirit and make us ever more faithful to our vocation as God’s beloved children, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Our God and Father,
these gifts of bread and wine
will become your beloved Son, Jesus,
on whom your favor rests.
Strengthen us with his body and blood
and let his Holy Spirit renew us
as people who live without compromise
the message of justice and love
and the very life of your Son.
In this way, may we truly be
your beloved sons and daughters
on whom your favor rests,
now and for ever. Amen!
Prayer after Communion
Our God and Father,
you have opened heaven to us
to strengthen us with the bread of life
and to fill us with the Holy Spirit.
Make us new and call us away
from our certainties and attachments.
Send us out to go forward without fear
on the road of justice and peace,
that we may be your beloved children
together with your faithful Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen!
Blessing
At his baptism, Jesus saw his vocation to serve God and people. At our baptism, we were given our vocation. It is in a small way, the vocation of Jesus. Let each of us become a faithful servant and a son or daughter of the Father, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!