Sunday Mass readings (Jesus rejects no one / the Church described? / importance of baptism...)

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January 10, 2010

The Baptism of the Lord
Lectionary: 21

Reading I
Is 42:1-4, 6-7 or Is 40:1-5, 9-11

Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

or

Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
the rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Go up on to a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by a strong arm;
here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10.

(11b) The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Give to the LORD, you sons of God,
give to the LORD glory and praise,
Give to the LORD the glory due his name;
adore the LORD in holy attire.
The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters,
the LORD, over vast waters.
The voice of the LORD is mighty;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.
The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The God of glory thunders,
and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
The LORD is enthroned above the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as king forever.
The Lord will bless his people with peace.

Reading II
Acts 10:34-38 or Ti 2:11-14; 3:4-7

Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered
in the house of Cornelius, saying:
“In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.
You know the word that he sent to the Israelites
as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all,
what has happened all over Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism
that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.”

Gospel
Lk 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.”

.

***the first psg seems to describe the Church. but as one saint said (probably more than one): the Church IS Christ.

The Church has always advocated justice for the poor & oppressed… so again, i feel it is the Church being described here… Jesus is the Church. His Presence is there 24/7. 🙂 one reason i am reminded of the Church with this psg is that it says he does not cry out in the streets. the Church doesn’t either, and yet the Church has ways of calling to people…

I like the way it says that Jesus will reject no one. i wish i had known this psg a long time ago because i have never felt that i was worthy of Him… and stayed away for far too long… a minute is too long… 🙂 ***
 
Reading I
Is 42:1-4, 6-7 or Is 40:1-5, 9-11
Click to expand...
Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
Click to expand...
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
Click to expand...
One of the mistakes we moderns often make in reading an Old Testament passage like this (especially from the prophets), is seeing the word “justice,” and assuming that the writer is talking about what we talk about when we usually that word – that is, fair and equitable treatment for everyone at all levels of society. The Old Testament concept of “justice” includes this, of course, but it is not it’s primary meaning.

“Justice” can also be translated “righteousness” which conveys a much broader meaning including man’s obligation to God and to his fellow man. It includes keeping religious and moral laws and keeping ourselves pure before God (depending on our state of life), *as well as *charity and fairness to our brother. In other words, the prophets (and John the Baptist and Jesus and the Church) preach the whole enchilada, with one facet of the Gospel not being sacrificed or magnified at the expense of the other numerous facets

As an exercise, plug the word “righteousness” into the First Reading, and see if it doesn’t at once make more sense while at the same time becoming less limited and more challenging.
Reading I
Is 42:1-4, 6-7 or Is 40:1-5, 9-11
Click to expand...
Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth righteousness to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes righteousness on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
Click to expand...
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of righteousness,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
Click to expand...
 
"I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice"
– or righteousness, as you say Fidelis. My translation says “I the
Lord have called you to serve the cause of right”. To me, this says
to “sheep activities” mentioned in Mt 25. These are the activities
that work a victory of justice in the world.

“The voice of the LORD is mighty”
– The voice of the Lord is mentioned 3 times in today’s psalm
and again in the gospel as a mighty thunderous sound. Yet
for the prophet Elijah it was a whisper.

“Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him”
– This line could be the key to relations of all nations, except
that everyone has a different idea of what is acting
uprightly.

"He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire"
– I have been told that the Israelites being baptised by John
found it a scary experience, since hardly any of them could
swim. When they were put under water, it was frightening,
and when they came up alive, they felt joy. After surviving
this experience, imagine how they must have felt when now
they were told they would be baptised in fire??!!!

In the optional second reading for today, from Titus, there
was an interesting line, that I didn’t see in the Bible or the
USCCB. In place of Titus 2:12, it says that grace has
taught us that what we have to do is to give up everything
that does not lead to God. And then in Titus 2:14, it says
to have no ambition except to do good. These lines are in
my daily roman missal, but absent from my bible and the USCCB website.
 
cheeto1 said:
In the optional second reading for today, from Titus, there
was an interesting line, that I didn’t see in the Bible or the USCCB. In place of Titus 2:12, it says that grace has taught us that what we have to do is to give up everything that does not lead to God. And then in Titus 2:14, it says to have no ambition except to do good. These lines are in my daily roman missal, but absent from my bible and the USCCB website.
Click to expand...
The passage from the USCCB for the readings says:
Beloved:
The grace of God has appeared, saving all
and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires
and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age,
as we await the blessed hope,
the appearance of the glory of our great God
and savior Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness
and to cleanse for himself a people as his own,
eager to do what is good.
Click to expand...
From that same site in the New American Bible section it renders it:
11
For the grace of God has appeared, saving all
12
and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age,
13
as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of the great God and of our savior Jesus Christ,
14
who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good.
Click to expand...
My print version of the NAB and my missal (Magnificat) are identical with the above two.

Finally, my Bible (the RSV-CE) says:
11
For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men,
12
training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world,
13
awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
14
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.
Click to expand...
 
and that’s why I don’t get rid of this missal. It’s over 20 years old but it just has
a way of wording things sometimes that really strikes me moreso than the other
versions.
 
cheeto1 said:
"He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire"
– I have been told that the Israelites being baptised by John
found it a scary experience, since hardly any of them could
swim. When they were put under water, it was frightening,
and when they came up alive, they felt joy. After surviving
this experience, imagine how they must have felt when now
they were told they would be baptised in fire??!!!
Click to expand...
I’d like to hear what other people think John was referring to when he says the next baptism will be from the Holy Spirit and fire. When I read the word fire in this verse I think of the burning bush from the OT. But I’m stuck here because I thought fire symbolizes the Holy Spirit. However my interpretation seems off, because mentioning the Holy Spirit and fire in the same verse is redundant. So now I’m wondering what he meant by baptism of fire?
 
.

.

whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him"

so i guess i am acceptable to Him… 🙂
 
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