Reflection on the Readings for 12 Jan 2025:
Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11; Titus 2:11-14,3:4-7; Luke 3:15-16,21-22
Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord
Last week, we read about Jerusalem as the city with the temple and the power where the magi believed they would find the new king. They might have been surprised that Jesus was not born in this powerful city.
In this week’s Readings, there is even a rebuke for Jerusalem which could be seen as a symbol for the old ways people have walked and acted.
There is new hope that comes out of the world which is not yet shaped by human life – the wilderness, the desert. God gives instructions on how to prepare the new ways. We are called to get everything prepared for God.
God will come with power, but we are not to be afraid.
Isaiah’s text is part of The Book of Consolation, which describes God’s justice that is about salvation rather than punishment.
God’s ruling is the one of a shepherd who feeds his flocks, cares for them – and if needed, carries them.
The consolation and salvation will be for all people. God’s justice is beyond social status or ethnic background but is rather based on our relationship with God. We are called to concentrate on what leads to God and leave everything else behind. Jerusalem would have been a city of hope and ambitions for people, but they were called to prepare God’s way in the desert.
In his letter to Titus, Paul reiterated the importance to live good and faithful lives, but he also points out that we still need Jesus’ sacrifice for us to be purified in order to be God’s people. God’s love, kindness and compassion will set us free.
It is through God’s compassion that the cleansing water of rebirth and the baptism with the power of the Holy Spirit are “generously poured over us through Jesus Christ our saviour”. (Titus 3:6)
In the Gospel Reading, Luke describes the moment when Jesus was baptised by his cousin John.
Jesus was not the only one who was baptised at this occasion. However, the moment that Jesus was baptised, the situation changed.
While the baptism was an act of washing away sins, of purification, the new baptism was a baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire to a new beginning, a new call.
The cleansing ceremony became a mission ceremony. We might have regretted our old ways, have tried to do God’s will and follow the 10 Commandments. However, this is not enough anymore. God has sent Jesus as our saviour. Jesus started his public ministry after being baptised. The Holy Spirit rested on him and God spoke to him. It was now clear that Jesus was God’s son and acting according to God’s will.
In remembrance of this moment, we are baptised in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are all called to follow Jesus in his footsteps.
If we were baptised as babies, we might not remember that moment, but when we celebrate Mass, the liturgy reminds us of our baptism and our call to be followers of Jesus.
The baptism that started Jesus’ public ministry is a call to start our own active way of being Christians by our deeds.
On the 13th of January 1838, Bishop Jean-Baptiste Pompallier started his ministry in Aotearoa New Zealand when he celebrated the first Catholic Mass on this land. He left behind his life in Europe, a well-regulated life and in many ways a comfortable life.
He arrived on a boat in Hokianga and might have thought of the words of Isaiah calling to prepare the ways for God.
187 years later, this moment of beginning in Aotearoa New Zealand is still remembered with a special Mass each year.
What have been the new beginnings in our own lives? What have been our key moments?
– And what are our hopes for the New Year? Do we leave space for God’s plans that might not be revealed to us yet?
BM
