ROSARY REFLECTION: THE BAPTISTM OF OUR LORD - I prayed the Luminous Mysteries before The Blessed Sacrament yesterday focusing on the Baptism of Our Lord. I was unable to post last night so if you dont pray the Luminous Mysteries today (they are normally prayed on Thursdays), hopefully these will be points to ponder next time you do. When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, that symbolized the beginning of his public ministry. From there he would go on to Cana to perform his first miracle, changing water into wine (a foreshadowing of The Eucharist) and then proclaiming the Kingdom of God as he would soon go about offering healing and hope. But first things first. He had to be baptized and by whom better than his own cousin, John the Baptist, who did not feel worthy to loosen the strap of his sandal and had said Christ must increase; I must decrease. Yet it was through John the Baptist, this voice in the wilderness, that Jesus was administered this sacrament. And why in the Jordan River rather than in a temple? Well, we could say that Jesus himself would become the new temple. But in addition to that, at a Bible Timeline Seminar that I attended at St. Helenas church a few months ago, the facilitator told us that Jesus had purposely gone to the Jordan River because the Dead Sea is at the lowest points on earth, in elevation or sea level, and so Our Lord, went from the highest point in the universe, from the heavens, to the lowest point, the Jordan River. And this is especially significant because I read in Pope Emeritus Benedict XVIs book, Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration, that Jesus did not need to be baptized because he had no sin of his own. So why was Jesus baptized? According to B-16, when Jesus was immersed into the waters of the Jordan River (again, the lowest point on earth), he took on the sins of the whole world onto his shoulders. Like his mother, our mother, Mary, who had said Yes! to God when the archangel Gabriel appeared to her, telling her she had been chosen to be mother of the Man-God, this was also Jesuss way of saying Yes! to Gods plan of salvation for us. And so when Jesus came up from the water after being baptized, Scriptures tell us that the heavens opened up. A dove flew by and a voice thundered from above, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Jesus agreed to take on the burden of our sins, say Yes to God, and so he was filled with The Holy Spirit as he then stepped out of the waters and began his journey to the cross, and as we know and as the song tells us, from the cross to the grave, and then from the grave to the sky. There is so much mystery and yet so much to study and learn and be blessed by as we meditate on The Baptism of Our Lord and its deep meanings. As for us, we renew our own baptismal promise each time we make the Sign of TheCcross. A special blessing to all those being baptized and entering into The Church during the Easter Season.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:27:27 +0000
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