SATURDAY, JAN 6
Mark 1:7-11
This is what John the Baptist 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.”
Grace: I ask for the grace to know Jesus in a deeper way that I may abundantly love and follow him.
I love grand entrances! I so enjoyed the entrance of the beautiful Rose DeWitt as she descends the grand staircase of the Titanic. It is as if the world stands at attention for a brief moment at the sight of one so elegant. In this passage, the people of Israel are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Messiah. Things are not going well in Israel, with war after war, political revolution after political revolution, and seemingly unending violence and poverty. God seems to have forgotten his promise of a deliverer, for under harsh Roman rule, there was no deliverance on the horizon. But Jesus knows how to make a grand entrance. The start of his public ministry is announced by ‘the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him’, and the voice of the Father announcing that this simple man is ‘my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’. But has anyone really noticed? Everyone is busily lining up to be baptized. They are not quite sure about this odd and abrasive man, John, but they take part in his ritual, just in case the ‘one mightier than I is coming’ shows up. Who would want to miss that? Yet there is a sense that the anxious crowd misses this grand entrance of Jesus. They do not see the heavens being ripped open, nor do they hear and understand the voice of the Father. They do not recognize the time of their heavenly visitation.
For Reflection and Prayer:
Reflect upon a time when you are awaiting the fulfillment of an urgent request to God. Perhaps you have been praying for a very long time for the healing of a loved one. Perhaps you have been asking God what your next steps are. How did God respond to your urgent requests?
Reflect upon your times of a heavenly visitation. At the time, did you understand the purpose of a divine announcement for your life, or were you too busy to notice? How would you need to change to be able to recognize these grand entrances of God into your life?
The Contributor:
Gail Dereszewski is the Director of Adult Education and RCIA (the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults at St. Matthew’s parish since 2011. She has been married to her husband Razi for 33 years and has called San Antonio home for 36 years. She considers it a great privilege to be able to serve the people of God through adult ministry.
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Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.