Petition: Heavenly Father, source of my life, enable me to recognize your gift in Christ and with your grace become a worthy coworker available for all souls who need me for the Glory of your Name.

 

Gospel Passage: Luke 3: 15-16; 21-22

 

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

 

Introductory Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, you know the longings of my heart. Teach me to know you more and love you increasingly, you who are the only fulfillment of all my desires. Enable me to develop the gifts Ive received from you in Baptism and so grow in your likeness, be pleasing to the Father and help open the hearts of many to you.

 

1. Hearts are opening: Is he the one that is to come?

 

The heart of man is unsettled and unsettling, bruised and bruising, hurt and hurtful, imprisoned, crying in its blindness and darkness for liberation. The sin and misery resulting from our fallen human nature increases and mans impoverished spirit longs for reconciliation and peace. Rumors of a Savior about to come increase the expectation. John clearly prepares the people and no less clearly points out that he is not the Messiah. Jesus comes, meek and humble of heart. He discreetly takes his place, just like someone slipping into the confessional line of sinners waiting to confess their sins, and lines up to be baptized. He is not shouting or protesting, arrogantly criticizing or cynically ridiculing but humbly walking among us sinners; not trying to distance himself from us but begging his Father forgive them, they know not what they are doing!. He ardently longs for the baptism in his blood by which he will redeem us, set us free and grant us his peace. The Lord will bless his people with peace. The people cant wait for this! They want it now in fullness!

 

The people around John believed in him because of the signs he wrought and the baptism he performed. They were on the verge of falsely discerning him as the Savior. John, in his humility and honesty boldly denies this flattering honor and points them toward the One they were looking for. He did not accept their praises and recognition or even the idea of being greater than another, all John did was cry out in the desert preparing the way of the Lord. This was his mission and he fulfilled it with joy in the midst of all the threats of death, imprisonments, slandering, etc. Jesus spoke of this when He said, Blessed are they who suffer for my Name

 

John, in this scene, presents his own human limitations for he can baptize using water, whereas Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. John admits to his limit and reaches for the divine, bringing with him those who once believed him to be the One. Someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals. He tells them that someone is coming and that they should not believe in him but in the One to come. John used his mission to extend the Kingdom of Christ by placing his life at the service of God and trusting in Him to give strength in moments of trial.

 

2. Heaven opens and the Father opens his heart.

 

Now when all the people had been baptized 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. Through the Holy Spirit he is going to be lead out into the desert to be prepared for his mission, to be strengthened. Jesus union with the Father is a Person, the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of Holiness, Love in Person, being poured out for the forgiveness of sins.

 

Jesus is deeply in prayer, united to his Father. This prayer of Jesus is not your ordinary prayer. We, his disciples, are being confirmed by his Father: You are my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. God the Father is, after humanitys expulsion from Paradise, once again, happy with the human heart, that of his Son, and reveals His Son to the world. Jesus goodness, full of grace and truth, and his meekness and humility, always ready to lovingly do what is pleasing to the Father, are the traits of every heart reconciled with the Father. This is our privilege as baptized and later, after we fall again, once we receive the sacrament of reconciliation which restores the plenitude of the Fathers pleasure as he looks upon us in Christ. What peace to be seen by the Father as his beloved child! We are truly at home.

 

3. We should now open up ourselves and others.

 

Firstly, let us rejoice for the Fathers great love in sending his only son to save us. What grace for my soul! Let us marvel at Jesus Person, his heart so meek and humble, so holy and good, infinitely pleasing to the Father, totally available to serve our salvation. What a gift to be incorporated into Jesus person by Baptism. Am I responding to his gift to my soul, a gift intended to pass through me to countless others? Whoever receives you, receives me, says Christ.

 

In Baptism and Confirmation, the Holy Spirit has come to live in me and grant me his gifts. I am his temple. What trust God places in me to raise the bar so high for me, for my lifestyle, for my relationship to others. Let us open up to the cries of countless souls today, sheep without a shepherd, so many straying and lost, they urgently need humble yet strong helpers like John to prepare them and lead them to Christ. Christ sends his disciples out: men and women ready to give up every comfort zone they cherish and go knock on doors of closed hearts and invite them to let in the Lord who will bless his people with peace. The people cannot wait for this! They need it now! What happiness will be theirs when they come to Christ and the Father speaks these same words over them this is my beloved child in Christ Jesus.

 

Conversation: God, almighty Father, creator of all that is and is to be, teach me to love you with an untiring love and to bring those close to me close to you. Help me cherish my being incorporated into Christ by baptism. Give me the zeal of John the Baptist so I may also go out to the entire world and extend your Kingdom.

 

Questionnaire:

 

1. By God's grace I am incorporated into Christ through Baptism. Is this visible in my actions, my decisions and my plans? How do I express my gratitude for this great gift from God? 

 

2. How do I cherish the fact that by Baptism I too am in Christ, a child pleasing to the Father? How well and frequently do I receive the sacrament of Reconciliation to renew my baptismal grace? How well am I becoming the new person in Christ?

 

3. When I consider how many people need Christ, what do I think of doing to make it happen? Is there any "missionary outreach" in my daily life, among friends, co-students, family members? Do I just feel awkward and then not do anything? Is all I do to point out what is going wrong?