Sunday Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons: 11 January 2025

The Baptism of the Lord - by Piera della Francesca

The Baptism of The Lord - We are servants of the Lord

The first reading this Sunday is taken from Chapter 42 of the Prophet Isaiah, but the prophecy contained in verses 6-7, has a title which gives us as its theme, that of 'The Servant of the Lord'. Whilst this is a direct reference to Jesus Christ, we should extend the oracle of Isaiah to ourselves, after all through baptism, which we celebrate of this feast of the prototype of our baptism, we become members of Christ's body and his adopted sisters and brothers. However it is also a direct reminder that the one who called Jesus and ourselves out into ministry and mission will not leave us alone, but travel with us.

So these words of Isaiah have a deep resonance, one that places on our shoulders a cross of accepting the burdens of others but also is a great vocation like Christs', to be a faithful servant of the Lord in the context of our own relationships and the society and world in which we live.

This calling consists of many things, all of which are rooted in the intial relationship we have with the Lord :

" I, the LORD, have called you for justice,

I have grasped you by the hand;

I formed you, and set you

as a covenant for 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."(Is 42:6-7)

The precise nature of this call is focused on the nature and dignity of the human person, but, and this must never be forgotten, also on all that lives and is under our care and concern on this earth. If we are in any doubt reflect on the words of Psalm 104 which is the Responsorial Psalm for this feast. If we unpack both the oracle of Isaiah in the full text as well as our psalm, we discover they reveal to us the comprehensiveness of the call to mission without distinction of place, people, creature, race, gender or nationality. The very first sermon of Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth, inaugurating his ministry, took as its theme those same words of Isaiah. They are unequivocal in committing us the be the voice in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord, the light the reveals the glory, and the shepherd that comforts and consoles as well as protects the flock.

Baptism, forgiveness and new life for the sake of the world

How can this be? How are we to carry out this mission and live our calling.We might be forgiven for asking this given the track record of humans ( including religious peoples) in history, and given the fragile state our planet is in this very day, politics too seems to be retrograde, and as one commentator asked , the ideals of dignity, equality, fraternity as well as rights seems to be taking a heavy bashing from a rich and powerful minority. If the Church cannot uphold these values, who else is left to speak out and fight for the little ones of the earth. I have often heard Christians suggest that they are being persecuted, maybe they are in many places, but in others they are the persecutor, often by omission, standing back, saying nothing, letting prejudice east away at people's imaginations. There are too many being persecuted today, the unwanted unloved( I use this as a symbol) immigrant, the hidden poor, the rights of women, children, tied workers. How come we can accept as normal the words of a nearly incumbent president trampling on the rights of several countries with their own governance, laws and citizens, by making aggressive neo-colonial suggestions, and using tariffs, money both as a tool and weapon. This is the coal face where `Isaiah's words need proclaiming loudly. They are also where Peter's speech in our second reading leads us: '"In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him".(Acts 10:34,35) Why is this not heard more?

In the baptism of Jesus we see our own setting apart, like Him, through the Rites of Initiation we are made part of the family of God. Our sins are forgiven and the offer of forgiveness is set there before us for the future. A new start is made, we too are reborn in water to be one with Christ, our new status is not as part of a nation state but as Christ bearers, inheritors now of the Kingdom, living in a particular Nation State, but required to challenge all that is wrong within it, and enlighten the hearts of others. We are anointed by the Spirit, and the fire of love. For our ministry as servants of the Lord !

I found today in the back of a picture frame, some calligraphy my late Aunt Sheila wrote, a quote I wasn't familiar with, but one which illuminates for me, the drama of our own baptism as we celebrate this great feast. These are the words of Julius Nyerere, (1922 - 1999) first prime minister of Tanganyika, who was a visionary politician of principle and intelligence: "Every man has a right to a decent life before any individual has a surplus above his needs".

Faced with our world now, our baptism calls us to make those words heard, especially by politicians. We are called to go out and be that voice in the wilderness.

Lectio

Psalm 104 from Verse 24 to the end.

24O LORD, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

25Yonder is the sea, great and wide,

creeping things innumerable are there,

living things both small and great.

26There go the ships,

and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.

27These all look to you

to give them their food in due season;

28when you give to them, they gather it up;

when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

29When you hide your face, they are dismayed;

when you take away their breath, they die

and return to their dust.

30When you send forth your spirit, they are created;

and you renew the face of the ground.

31May the glory of the LORD endure for ever;

may the LORD rejoice in his works-

32who looks on the earth and it trembles,

who touches the mountains and they smoke.

33I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

34May my meditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the LORD.

35Let sinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more.

Bless the LORD, O my soul.

Praise the LORD!

Jesus speaks in the Synagogue at Nazareth

Luke 4: 16-21

"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."