Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 or Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11

Psalm 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10 or Psalm 104:1b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30

Acts 10:34-38 or Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7

Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

The people were filled with expectation,

and all were asking in their hearts

whether John might be the Christ.

John answered them all, saying, 

“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.”

After all the people had been baptized 

and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, 

heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him

in bodily form like a dove. 

And a voice came from heaven, 

“You are my beloved Son;

with you I am well pleased.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, it is good that I recall the gift you have given me through Baptism. I am now your child. I am now a member of your Son’s mystical body. I am now a temple of your Spirit. Washed free from the stain of sin, I want to fully live your divine life in works of merciful charity.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Jesus Was Praying: When Luke narrates the mystery of Jesus’ baptism, he alone says that Jesus was praying during the event. This recalls the prayer of Isaiah, who prayed to God: “O, that you would rend the heavens and come down!” (Isaiah 63:19). By calling attention to Jesus’ prayer, Luke presents Jesus’ baptism as the answer to Isaiah’s prayer. At Jesus’ baptism, God the Father responds to Isaiah’s cry. The Father hears the prayer of his Son, rends the heavens, and sends the Holy Spirit upon his Son. Jesus is our model of prayer and teaches us how to pray. We are confident that the Father will hear our prayer and pour out the Holy Spirit upon those who ask him (Luke 11:13).

2. The Spirit: The Holy Spirit descended upon and anointed Jesus. In a way, the Spirit strengthened Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan for his later baptism of suffering on the cross at Calvary. The Spirit enabled Jesus to judge the poor with righteousness, victoriously overcome the wicked, minister to the nations, and bring divine light to all the nations. When the Spirit descends like a dove over the waters, this recalls the story of Noah. Just as the flood story was a recreation event and reestablished the covenant of creation, so also the baptism of Jesus fulfills the first creation and inaugurates the new creation. Adam and Eve rejected their vocation as God’s adopted children. Jesus restores us to divine sonship, and this gift is given to us in Baptism, by sharing in the Son’s death and resurrection.

3. Isaiah 40: The First Reading can be taken from Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11. This is an important chapter in the Book of Isaiah. It marks the transition from condemning Israel for her past sins to consoling Israel and offering her the hope of restoration. Something similar happens in the Gospel: there is a transition from the condemnation of and repentance from sin in the ministry of John the Baptist to the beginning of the forgiveness of sin and healing in the ministry of Jesus. John himself makes this contrast between his baptism of water for repentance and the cleansing baptism of Jesus with the Holy Spirit and fire. John’s Baptism was only a foreshadowing of the gift of the Spirit, which we receive when we are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you associated yourself with sinners by going to the Jordan River to be baptized by your cousin, John. You know my struggles and how I am tempted daily by sin. Have mercy on me and grant me your forgiveness. 

Living the Word of God: Am I truly acting as a Temple of the Holy Spirit? When I interact with others, do they encounter a person fully inspired by and docile to the promptings of the Spirit? Do I strive to view things and problems from God’s perspective? How can I be a better Temple of the Spirit in my daily life?