January 12, 2025
Loving Father, in this season of Christmas, may we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As the Magi offered gifts to the Christ Child, may we give to You our hearts of faith, hope, and love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.
Commentary
The beautiful Handel’s Messiah comes to mind as we read this passage from the Prophet Isaiah. Indeed, this passage is very lyrical as if God Himself is singing these words of hope for Jerusalem.
Generally, this reading would be found within Advent before Christmas. However, our First Reading fits well with the Gospel on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
An obvious connection to the Gospel is the prophet’s words, “A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord!” This alludes to John the Baptist who is the secondary figure on this Feast Day.
Perhaps the words from Isaiah are the greatest connection to the Gospel: “Here is your God!” The Gospel of Luke has the voice from heaven speak of Jesus as God’s “beloved Son.” As we bring to a conclusion the season of Christmas, we recognize that Jesus is God and that any further revelation of God is neither necessary nor possible. If we want to know God, we look to Jesus.
In what way is Jesus the fullness of God revealed in your life?
Commentary
Recognizing that Jesus is God, Paul writes to Titus words of hope for Christ’s return. Paul calls us to live justly and devoutly as “we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ.”
For Paul, there is no doubt that Jesus is fully God and that no future revelation of God is necessary. Nevertheless, he urges us to be patient as we await the blessed hope for His return in glory. As Christ was once made manifest at the Baptism, He will be fully revealed when He comes again.
Meanwhile, there is a Baptism for us all. Paul reminds us “that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life,” we must be saved through Baptism and the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Through our Baptism, the fullness of Christ as God is being revealed through our new lives in Him. We are a new creature. We are co-heirs with Christ and we are properly called “Christian.”
How do you reveal Christ in your life as a Christian?
Continued...
Commentary
There is only one Savior of the World. He would not be one among the many “christs” (the word means king) who have come and gone. He would be unique. He would be unlike any other.
Even as great as John the Baptist was to the people who followed him to the Jordan, he was quick to say “One mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.”
The true King is Jesus the Christ who is baptized by John at the Jordan. Revealed as God’s “beloved Son” in whom God is “well pleased,” the Holy Spirit rests upon Him alone.
Mention need only be made that our Baptism is not the same as Christ’s. His Baptism is a theophany (a revelation) of His true nature. He is fully God (divine) and fully human. Our Baptism celebrates the gift of sharing in His Divine nature through the grace of “the Holy Spirit and fire” as John had prophesied.
What does your Baptism mean for you?
The Sacrament of Baptism is often called “the door of the Church,” because it is the first of the seven Sacraments not only in time (since most Catholics receive it as infants) but in priority, since the reception of the other sacraments depends on it. It is the first of the three Sacraments of Initiation, the other two being the Sacrament of Confirmation and the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
The group sings or says the following:
The prayer continues with Psalm 29.
Response: The Lord will bless his people with peace.
R: The Lord will bless his people with peace.
R: The Lord will bless his people with peace.
R: The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Used with Permission. All rights reserved. Christ in Our Neighborhood © is a Scripture program designed by Bishop John Dolan of the Diocese of Phoenix. Free resources at dphx.org/christ-in-our-neighborhood.
