Sunday Mass for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord - Year B

Join the Jesuit Institute South Africa as they celebrate Sunday Mass for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord 2021 - Year B This morning's Mass is celebrated by Fr Bruce Botha SJ. Owing to COVID-19 and the suspensions of Mass in various parts of the country, we invite everyone to make a 'Spiritual Communion' with us during this Mass. More resources are available at https://www.jesuitinstitute.org.za/co.... Our readings for this Mass are: First Reading Isaiah 55:1-11 Psalm Isaiah 12:2-6 Second Reading 1 John 5:1-9 Gospel Acclamation John 1:29 Gospel Mark 1:7-11. Homily (begins at 11:30) For the past few weeks, we have been sitting around the crib of Jesus while his parents have entertained angels and shepherds and Magi. The focus of our liturgical celebrations has been on this wonderful baby and the incredible story of his nativity. Suddenly today there is a change of pace. Mark’s gospel fast forwards through 30 years of the life of Jesus and stops here, at the baptism of Jesus. “No sooner had he come up out of the water than he saw the heavens torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him.” Mark is, I think, trying to connect the birth of Jesus with his mission, the incarnation with the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord. This baptism of water and the Spirit marked the beginning of the earthly ministry of Jesus. The anointing with the Spirit is what empowered Jesus to do what he did: to heal the sick and to reconcile humanity to God, to preach the good news of God’s salvation. It is useful for us to think back, to reflect on the why of the incarnation, the reason why there is this connection between Christmas, and the rest of the life of Jesus, including the painful and messy bits that culminate in the passion. In the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, there is a meditation on the incarnation of Jesus which starts out with the Trinity looking down at the people of the world. According to Ignatius, this is what the Trinity saw: “Men and women being born and being laid to rest, some getting married and others getting divorced, the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the happy and the sad, so many people aimless, despairing, hateful, and killing, so many undernourished, sick, and dying, so many struggling with life and blind to any meaning.” The Trinity saw this and were moved with compassion, moved to action. Their response to the suffering of humanity was the incarnation, God entering into our reality, to live it with us, and to redeem it. Most of us are very good at sympathy, the “Ag shames” that trips off our lips so easily but goes no further. We are not always so good with compassion, the suffering with another person. The incarnation is the compassion of God made present and visible in the world, the baptism of the Lord is the beginning of the public living out of that life and ministry of compassion. Despite the fact that I am wearing white for this solemnity, this is also the first Sunday in ordinary time. The baptism of the Lord suddenly makes our ordinary time not so ordinary after all. Ordinary time is not simply weeks upon end of boring liturgical green. Ordinary time is the time for us to live out our own baptismal calling, in the struggles of our lives, and our challenges, in our failures and woundedness. It is our time to love and serve, our time to live in joy. When you look at it like that, ordinary time is definitely not boring. You can listen to this homily at https://www.jesuitinstitute.org.za/su... or download it to read here, https://www.jesuitinstitute.org.za/wp...