THE WORD
1 Jn 3,11-21 / Jn 1,43-51
And this is what John 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."
IN OTHER WORDS
Our baptism is fundamental to our lives as Christians. Henri Nouwen wrote: "I very much believe that the core moment of Jesus' public life was the baptism in the Jordan, when Jesus heard the affirmation, 'You are my beloved on whom my favor rests.' ... He is reminded in a deep, deep way of who he is." In the face of temptations and rejections, Jesus insists, "Others will leave me alone, but my Father will not leave me alone. I am the beloved son of God. I am the hope found in that identity." So it is for us also.
Edmund Campion, an English Catholic martyr during the Protestant reformation, found in the seminary what was meant by the life of the baptized: "The faith of the people among whom he was now placed . . . was what gave them daily life, their entire love and hope, for which they had abandoned all smaller loyalties and affections; all that most men found desirable, home, possessions, good fame, increase, security in the world, children to keep fresh their memory after they were dead."
The Christian Community Bible notes three complementary aspects of Christian baptism, which are first seen in Jesus himself: "water, the symbol of cleanliness and new life, blood, the sacrifice, the painful atonement of sin, the blood of martyrs, and Spirit, the uncontrollable power that animates Christ's witnesses: the amazing creativity of the people and institutions that are rooted in faith."
Like Father Campion, we are also the beloved of God. Our hope and our identity are clear. God will not leave us alone. Our baptism is basic to us, and these three complementary aspects, should at least be evident in our lives.
- Fr. Alan Meechan, SVD (Melgar, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro)
The Word in other words 2017
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
