First reading Isaiah 55:1-11
Come to me and your soul will live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you
Thus says the Lord:
Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty;
though you have no money, come!
Buy corn without money, and eat,
and, at no cost, wine and milk.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
your wages on what fails to satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and you will have good things to eat
and rich food to enjoy.
Pay attention, come to me;
listen, and your soul will live.
With you I will make an everlasting covenant
out of the favours promised to David.
See, I have made of you a witness to the peoples,
a leader and a master of the nations.
See, you will summon a nation you never knew,
those unknown will come hurrying to you,
for the sake of the Lord your God,
of the Holy One of Israel who will glorify you.
Seek the Lord while he is still to be found,
call to him while he is still near.
Let the wicked man abandon his way,
the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn back to the Lord who will take pity on him,
to our God who is rich in forgiving;
for my thoughts are not your thoughts,
my ways not your ways – it is the Lord who speaks.
Yes, the heavens are as high above earth
as my ways are above your ways,
my thoughts above your thoughts.
Yes, as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.
Responsorial Psalm Isaiah 12
The rejoicing of a redeemed people
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
Truly, God is my salvation,
I trust, I shall not fear.
For the Lord is my strength, my song,
he became my saviour.
With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
Give thanks to the Lord, give praise to his name!
Make his mighty deeds known to the peoples!
Declare the greatness of his name.
Sing a psalm to the Lord
for he has done glorious deeds;
make them known to all the earth!
People of Zion, sing and shout for joy,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Gospel Mark 1:7-11
‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you’
In the course of his preaching John the Baptist said:
‘Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’
It was at this time that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised in the Jordan by John. No sooner had he come up out of the water than he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.’
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Being unconditionally loved
Today’s feast invites us to ponder on what the experience of Jesus’ baptism means for us. It is an experience of being unconditionally loved and accompanied fully in life by God. It means experiencing the heavens being torn apart such that there are no more barriers to our relationship with God. He is no longer someone distant and indifferent. Rather, He comes close to us as a Father who knows and cares about the events in our lives. It means seeing the Spirit descending to stay permanently in our hearts such that we never need to walk alone in life but always accompanied. It means listening and believing in the Father’s voice, assuring us of His favour – His unconditional love for us, His own children.
For Jesus, the conviction of being unconditionally loved as God’s Beloved Son became the foundation of His public life. It enabled Him to be guided and sustained throughout His life to love all till the end. Let us experience anew this deep love of God for us so that, like Jesus, we can continue to love till the end.
Reflective question:
What is God’s message for me in prayer today?
What is God’s message for me in prayer today?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year B” by Sr Monika Punan FMVD.
