First Sunday in Ordinary Time

READINGS:Isaiah 42: 1-4. 6-7   /   Psalm 29: 1-4. 9-10   /   Acts 10: 34-38   / LUKE 3: 15-16. 21-22

HIS WORD… John the Baptist said, “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.” …And a voice came from heaven, “YOU ARE MY BELOVED SON; WITH YOU I AM WELL PLEASED.”

my words…With today’s Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we liturgically end the Christmas Season. In fact, the Sunday of the Baptism of the Lord is the very First Sunday in Ordinary Time, the GREEN Season in the Liturgical Calendar of the Church. And this season will run through the whole liturgical year consisting of 34 Sundays. But it will make a pause of 97 days for the celebration of the 40 days of LENT which will start on February 10, 2016 – Ash Wednesday; the 7 days of the Holy Week – March 20 to 27, 2016; and the 50 days of Easter. Then Ordinary Time resumes on May 16, 2016 – Monday after Pentecost Sunday, the 50^th day of the Easter Season.

Brothers and Sisters, today’s celebration is prayed as the First Mystery of Light or the First Luminous Mystery, for the Baptism of Jesus is the inauguration of His public life and salvific ministryand is still part of the “Epiphany” or the final manifestation or revelation of God’s glory in Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus’ epiphany is completed by three major events; namely, 1) the visit of the Magi where He was revealed asSavior of the world by His missions as a King, a Priest, and a Prophet symbolized by their gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh; 2) the Baptism at the Jordan where He was revealed as the “Beloved Son” of the Father; and 3) the Miracle at Cana in Galilee (2^nd Luminous Mystery) where Jesus first manifests His glory by signs and wonders (Fr. Gil A. Alinsangan, SSP. 366 Days with the Lord 2016, January 10, 2016 Sunday Reflection). All these events manifest that God has come into the world and live among us.

Brothers and Sisters, Jesus’ baptism reminds us also of our own baptism, of how we become God’s adopted children and how we promised to live such a life in following Jesus. And just as Jesus’ baptism was so important at the beginning of His apostolic ministry, so is our baptism important for us, because it has been the beginning of so many beautiful things in our Christian lives (Fr. Putzu, The New Exploring God’s Word, p. 78). Our inauguration into the family of God – the Church, makes us wonder of God’s merciful love and utter goodness.

A challenge for all of us: Can you remember the day you were baptized? If you can’t, go to your parish offices, ask for your baptismal records and a certificate of them, and pay for it, and then, cherish the day you were baptized because the Lord has been so good to you. Amen. Let us therefore live our baptismal VOWS and PROMISES, let us be true to them, so that God the Father will also say to us in our faith and life, “You are my beloved children; with you I am well pleased!”

HAPPY BAPTISM SUNDAY… (By Fr. Julius C. Lupot)