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« January 12, 2020 »

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Lectionary: 21

Il-Magħmudija tal-Mulej - Festa

Reading 1        ISAIAH 42:1-4, 6-7

Thus says the LORD: Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. a bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching. I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

Qari I       mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Isaija 42, 1-4.6-7

Dan jgħid il-Mulej: “Araw il-qaddej tiegħi, li jiena nwieżen, il-maħtur tiegħi li fih qalbi strieħet! Qegħedt l-ispirtu tiegħi fuqu, biex iġib il-ġustizzja lill-ġnus. Ma jgħajjatx, ma jgħollix leħnu; ma jsemmax leħnu fil-pjazez, qasba mġelġla ma jiksirhiex, musbieħ inemnem ma jitfihx. Iġib il-ġustizzja fis-sewwa. Ma jegħjiex, ma jitfarrakx, sakemm ma jwaqqafx il-ġustizzja fuq l-art; u l-gżejjer imbiegħda jistennew il-liġi tiegħu. Jien il-Mulej, sejjaħtlek fis-sewwa, qbadtek minn idek u ħaristek, u għamilt minnek patt tal-poplu, dawl għall-ġnus, biex int tiftaħ għajnejn l-għomja, toħroġ lill-ilsiera mill-ħabs, u lil dawk li hemm fid-dlam minn dar l-għeluq”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm    PSALM 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10

Give to the LORD, you sons of God,

give to the LORD glory and praise,

Give to the LORD the glory due his name;

adore the LORD in holy attire.

R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.

The voice of the LORD is over the waters,

the LORD, over vast waters.

The voice of the LORD is mighty;

the voice of the LORD is majestic.

R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.

The God of glory thunders,

and in his temple all say, “Glory!”

The LORD is enthroned above the flood;

the LORD is enthroned as king forever.

R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.

Salm Responsorjali      Salm 28 (29), 1a-2.3ac-4.3b u 9b-10

R/. (11b): Il-Mulej ibierek il-poplu tiegħu bis-sliem

Agħtu lill-Mulej, ulied Alla,

agħtu lill-Mulej glorja u qawwa.

Agħtu lill-Mulej il-glorja ta’ ismu,

qimu l-Mulej fl-għamara mqaddsa tiegħu. R/.

Leħen il-Mulej fuq l-ibħra;

il-Mulej fuq l-ibħra kotrana.

Leħen il-Mulej bil-qawwa,

leħen il-Mulej bil-glorja. R/.

Alla tal-glorja jriegħed,

u fit-tempju tiegħu kulħadd jgħid: “Glorja!”.

Il-Mulej jaħkem fuq l-għargħar;

isaltan il-Mulej għal dejjem. R/.

Reading 2     ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 10:34-38

Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered in the house of Cornelius, saying: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him. You know the word that he sent to the Israelites as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism

that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”

Qari II     mill-Atti tal-Appostli 10, 34-38

F’dak iż-żmien, Pietru qabad jitkellem u qal: “Issa tassew qiegħed nifhem li Alla ma jħares lejn wiċċ ħadd, imma jilqa’ lil kull min għandu l-biża’ tiegħu u jagħmel is-sewwa, ikun minn liema poplu jkun. Huwa bagħat il-Kelma tiegħu lil ulied Iżrael u xandrilhom is-sliem permezz ta’ Ġesù Kristu, li hu s-Sid ta’ kollox. Intom tafu b’dak li ġara mal-Lhudija kollha, ibda mill-Galilija, wara li Ġwanni kien xandar il-magħmudija; tafu kif Alla kkonsagra lil Ġesù ta’ Nażaret bl-Ispirtu s-Santu u bil-qawwa, u kif dan Ġesù għadda jagħmel il-ġid u jfejjaq lil dawk kollha li kienu maħkuma mix-xitan, għax Alla kien miegħu”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel    MATTHEW 3:13-17

Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him.  After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Evanġelju          Qari skond San Mattew 3, 13-17

F’dak iż-żmien, Ġesù ġie mill-Galilija lejn il-Ġordan għand Ġwanni biex jitgħammed minnu. Imma Ġwanni ma ħalliehx, u qallu: “Jiena hu li jeħtieġ li nitgħammed minnek, u inti tiġi għandi?”. Ġesù qallu: “Inti għalissa ħallik minn dan, għax hekk jixraq nagħmlu, biex intemmu s-sewwa kollu”. Imbagħad Ġwanni ħallieh jitgħammed. Ġesù, wara li tgħammed, minnufih tala’ mill-ilma; u ara, is-smewwiet infetħu, u ra l-Ispirtu ta’ Alla nieżel qisu ħamiema u ġej għal fuqu. U mis-smewwiet instama’ leħen jgħid: “Dan hu Ibni l-għażiż: fih sibt l-għaxqa tiegħi”.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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///////////// REFLECTION      --      He Has Anointed Me

Gospel Commentary for the Baptism of the Lord by Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, Pontifical Household preacher. 

Jesus himself gives an explanation of what happens to him in the baptism in the Jordan. Returned from the Jordan, in the synagogue at Nazareth he applies to himself the words of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me …” Peter uses the term “anointed” in the second reading, speaking about Jesus’ baptism. He says: “God has anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power.”

What we have here is a fundamental concept of the Christian faith. The name “Messiah” in Hebrew and “Christos” in Greek mean “anointed.” We ourselves, the ancient Fathers said, call ourselves Christians because we are anointed in imitation of Christ, the Anointed par excellence. In our language, the word “anointed” has many meanings and not all of them are positive. In antiquity, annointing was an important element in life. Athletes were anointed with oil so that they could be quick and agile in races and men and women were anointed with perfumed oil so that their faces were beautiful and resplendent. Today, for the same purposes, there is an infinity of products available and many of them are derived from various types of oils.

In Israel the rite had a religious significance. The kings, the priests and the prophets were anointed with perfumed oil and this was the sign that they were consecrated for divine service. In Christ all of these symbolic anointings become reality. In the baptism in the Jordan he is consecrated king, prophet and eternal priest by God the Father. This did not happen through the use of material oil but through spiritual oil, that is, through the Holy Spirit, “the oil of joy,” as a Psalm says. This explains why the Church highlights so much the annointing with sacred chrism. There is a rite of annointing in baptism, in confirmation, in the ordination of priests and there is the annointing of the sick (which was once called “extreme unction”). An annointing is administered in these rites because through them we participate in the annointing of Christ, that is, the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We literally become “Christians,” that is, anointed, consecrated, and people who are called, as Paul says, “to spread the sweet perfume of Christ in the world.”

Let us try to see what all of this says to us men of today. Today so-called aromatherapy is very much in fashion. It uses essential oils that emit a perfume to maintain health and as therapy for certain disturbances. The Internet is full of advertising about aromatherapy. There are perfumes for physical maladies, like stress; there are also “perfumes for the soul”; one of these is supposed to help us achieve “interior peace.”

It is not my place to make a judgment about this alternative medicine. However, I see that physicians discourage this practice, which is not scientifically confirmed and which in fact, in some cases, provokes counterindications. But what I would like to say is that there is a sure, infallible aromatherapy that does not provoke counterindications: that one made up of a special aroma, the perfumed ointment that is the Holy Spirit!

This aromatherapy of the Holy Spirit heals all the ills of the soul and sometimes, if God wills it, the ills of the body too. There is an African-American spiritual in which the following words are continually repeated: “There is a balm in Gilead / to make the wounded whole.” (In the Old Testament Gilead was a place famous for its perfumed ointments. Cf. Jeremiah 8:22.) The song continues: “Sometimes I feel discouraged / and think my work’s in vain / but then the Holy Spirit / revives my soul again.” For us, Gilead is the Church and the balm that heals is the Holy Spirit. He is the scent that Jesus has left behind, passing through this world.

The Holy Spirit is a specialist in the illnesses of marriage. Marriage consists in giving oneself to another; it is the sacrament of making of oneself a gift. Now, the Holy Spirit is the gift made person; he is the giving of the Father to the Son and the Son to the Father. Where he comes there is renewed the capacity to make a gift of oneself and with this the joy and the beauty of living together.

The philosopher Heidegger made an alarmed judgment about the future of human society: “Only a god can save us,” he said. I say that this God who can save us exists; it is the Holy Spirit. Our society has need of massive doses of the Holy Spirit.  [Translation from the Italian by Joseph G. Trabbic]

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