11/01/2009 - Baptism of the Lord - Year B

1st. Reading Is 55,1-11 Psalm 12 2^nd. Reading 1Jn 5,1-9 Gospel Mk 1,7-11

We are going to start a new teaching. I thought to share with you something about prayer, in a particular way on the prayer taught to us by Jesus, the Our Father.

Often we are easily asked by other to: “pray for me!” When someone goes through difficult situations or sufferings ask me to: “pray for me”. And I answer: “yes, I shall pray for you, of course”. Many times I ask myself: when desperate people, even those with little faith, tell me to “pray for me”, what does it really mean? And so I ask: “what does it mean to pray”?

I know that many Christians pose these questions; therefore I am going to try and answer some of them keeping in mind the teachings and the examples of Jesus, the Christ. I say that I am going “to try”, because I am aware that I am not able to pray myself, let alone to speak about prayer. For me to speak about prayer is presumptuous, straight and plain. Hope that the Lord himself helps me not to say anything that might scandalize you that stop you from going to him and to his heart. I have this trust because he answers your prayers when you pray, together with your life and your journey of faith, for me to fulfill this ministry I have towards you.

I would like to start with the explanation of the word “to pray”. I have looked into the evangelists and the apostles to see what word they use in their writings that are in Greek. The biblical scholars say that the evangelists, in Greek, new for them, made use of the word used in the pagan world. Even pagans turn to their deities with suppliant prayers, and they call this action “prayer”. But Jesus has underlined for his disciple that: “praying do not waste words like the pagans” (Mt 6,7). Therefore the terminology used by the pagans to express their religious action towards their deities could not be right for the Christians to express their relationship with their God and Father! They had to create a new word!

Today it is Isaiah who introduces us to the Baptism of the Lord with a joyful invitation. This invitation is from God himself, who see the hunger and the thirst of our heart, and offers himself to satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst, that is to embrace us with his generous and unconditional love. To run to him it is necessary a conversion of heart and mind, of our desires and thoughts. We have different thoughts than those of God and that’s why we experience suffering and death. But living the Word, we could live and experience the new and true life, sure as much as the harvest and the bread are secured after the rains.

The words of Isaiah were already proclaimed for ages, when John, next to the river Jordan, was inviting all to change their desires and their thoughts, because of the one who was to offer free water and bread of life was present. John invites us to look at him, to join him, who hided himself among sinners to show us his true love. He is not afraid to be in touch with them, even so, he immerse himself in the same waters that clean their sins. He makes himself “a sinner”, without him sinning, without separating himself from the Father, who presents him with a clear and strong voice, as his beloved Son who comes down from on high, from the open skies. Even a dove come down on him, a Dove in which all see the symbol of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of that God who wants to reach all men with his love. What is seen and what is heard is exceptional, because it makes us think of the promises of God given by the prophets. We have come to the fullness, to the end of the awaiting times. John wants only to disappear, feeling unworthy to even do a slave’s service to the one who is coming after him and who is “stronger” than him. The strength of John is not a physical strength, neither that or arms, but that power by which he draws people to take them to the safety in God. Jesus is “stronger” because he will draw everybody to him! We too are to go to him, because by belonging to him we are to be generated by God, we are to have the same love of the Father.

The apostle John, in his Letter insists on this fact. We who believe that Jesus is the Christ, that is, the man consecrated by God, believe too that we have been generated in him by God! Generated by God means that we are sons and daughters of God, his family and co-workers with him! The apostle would for see and answer our question: how to love God and his children? “In this the love of God consists, in obeying his commandments”, and with this attitude one “overcomes the world”, the world around us and within us. We overcome it believing in the Son of God, that Son who immerses himself in the water of sinners, of whom even the Spirit witness by descending upon him. Surrendering ourselves to Jesus is always the best way for our major problems: in this way we would change truly our wishful and thankful ways, we would change them by conforming them to those of the Father. Because we are sinners we renew our yes to every word of his! And we shall be also the joy of God, in whom he is pleased!