1st Sunday after Epiphany – Year C
January 12, 2025
Gospel Lectionary Text
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
3:15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,
3:16 John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
3:17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened,
3:22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
Context
Welcome to the first Sunday after Epiphany. This week, we find ourselves in the baptismal waters with Jesus, undergoing his baptismal blessing: “You are my child, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
It was St. Jerome, in the Latin Vulgate version of the Gospels (405 AD), who translated the words “well pleased” as “conplaceo” (to dwell with like). It is one thing to know we are loved by God; it is quite another to know we are liked. One is a theological truth that can be deduced (i.e., God is love, therefore I must be loved), while the other is the joy-filled, full-bodied experience of being the subject of another’s delight. One enlightens; the other transforms.
This act of communication is all the more important because we hear the voice of the Father only three times throughout the Gospels. Twice, the Father says the same thing: first at Jesus’ baptism and again at the Transfiguration. Both times, the Father is giddy with delight. We might think the Father’s voice is a reward for good behavior, but Jesus hadn’t preached any sermons, healed any sick, or cast out demons prior to his baptism. What’s center stage is not Jesus’ obedience, but God’s head-over-heels, unrestrained delight. If there is a formula for undergoing our baptismal journey, this is it.
Question
We hear the voice of the Father four times in the New Testament. 50% of what He says is this: "I love and I like you." If you were given four phrases to sum up the whole of your heart, what would you say?
Reflections
Baptized Into the Human Experience
By Gideon Ochieng |
I have known Susan for over 14 years. She’s a pastor here in Nairobi with a reputation for speaking her mind. Susan is passionate about working with youth and vulnerable women in our community. The locals see her as an advocate for the rights of the most vulnerable in society. Among her best friends is...
Baptism
By Kris Rocke |
Baptism is an initiation into our most sacred vocation—to become fully human and know ourselves loved by God. No moral system, no matter how good, can produce this vocation. We become human, not through morality, but by receiving and giving mercy.
Praying Eucharistically - Weekly Homily by James Alison:
Understanding the Bible anew through the Mimetic Theory of René Girard.
Poetry
Quietness
by Rumi
Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
You’re covered with thick cloud.
Slide out the side.
Die, and be quiet.
Quietness is the surest sign that you’ve died.
Your old life was a frantic running from silence.
The speechless full moon comes out now.
Prayer
Join our rhythm of daily prayer.
This week's prayer comes from the Street Psalms Prayer of Vocation and includes a story from our global community:
