WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER The Messiah asks to be baptized so that all righteousness be fulfilled, that God’s design which passes through filial obedience and solidarity with fragile and sinful mankind, be fulfilled. It is the path of humility and of God’s complete closeness to his children. As soon as Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit alighted on him like a dove, as a voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17). We rediscover our own Baptism in the Feast of the Baptism. Just as Jesus is the Beloved Son of the Father, we too, reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, know we are loved children — the Father loves us all! —, the object of God’s satisfaction, brothers and sisters of many brothers and sisters, assigned with a great mission to bear witness and proclaim the Father’s boundless love to all mankind. This Feast of the Baptism of Jesus reminds us of our own Baptism. We too were reborn in Baptism. In Baptism the Holy Spirit came down to remain within us. (Angelus, 12 January 2020)
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS 12 January 2020 Just like Jesus who went to be baptized, you too are bringing your children.
Jesus replies to John: “let all righteousness be fulfilled” (cf. Mt 3:15). To baptize a child is an act of justice towards them. Why? Because at Baptism we offer a treasure, at Baptism we offer a pledge: the Holy Spirit. Baptism endows the child with the strength of the Holy Spirit: the Spirit that will defend and assist each of them throughout life. This is why it is so important to baptize them when they are little, so that they may grow with the strength of the Holy Spirit.
This is the message that I would like to give you today. You have brought your children today [so that they may receive] the Holy Spirit within them. And make sure that they develop in the light, with the strength of the Holy Spirit through catechesis, assistance, education and your example at home.... This is the message.
I do not want to say anything more important than this. Only some advice. Children are not accustomed to come to the Sistine chapel. It is their first time! They are not used to being closed in an environment that is also a bit stifling. And they are not used to being dressed like this, for a feast day as beautiful as today. They will feel a bit uncomfortable at times. And one will start [to cry]... — the concert has yet to begin! — but one will start then another ... Do not be alarmed: let your children cry and scream. Rather, if your child cries and complains, perhaps it is because it feels too hot: remove something; or because it is hungry: breastfeed him, here, yes, always comfortably. Something I also said last year: they have a “choral” dimension: it is enough for one of them to start to “sing” and everyone follows and there will be a concert. Do not be alarmed. It is a beautiful homily when a baby cries in church. It is a beautiful homily. Make sure that they are all right and let us move forward.
Do not forget: you let the Holy Spirit enter children.
With this Sunday following the Epiphany the Christmas Season draws to a close: the time of light, the light of Christ who appears, like the new sun on the horizon of humanity, dispelling the shadows of evil and ignorance. We celebrate today the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus: that Child, Son of the Virgin, whom we contemplated in the mystery of his Birth. We behold him today as an adult immersing himself in the waters of the River Jordan and thereby sanctifying all water and the whole world, as the Eastern Tradition stresses. But why did Jesus, in whom there is no shadow of sin, go to be baptized by John? Why did he perform that gesture of penitence and conversion, beside all those people who in this way were trying to prepare for the coming of the Messiah? That gesture — which marks the start of Christ’s public life — comes in continuity with the Incarnation, the descent of God from the highest heaven into the abyss of hell. The meaning of this movement of divine lowering is expressed in a single word: love, the very name of God. The Apostle John writes: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him”, and he sent him “to be the expiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:9-10). That is why the first public act of Jesus was to receive baptism from John, who, seeing him approaching, said: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29).
Luke the Evangelist recounts that while Jesus, having received baptism, “was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form, as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, ‘Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased’” (3:21-22). This Jesus is the Son of God who is totally immersed in the will of the Father’s love. This Jesus is the One who will die on the cross and rise again through the power of the same Spirit who now descends upon him and consecrates him. This Jesus is the new man who wills to live as the son of God, that is, in love; the man who in the face of the evil of the world, by choosing the path of humility and responsibility he chooses not to save himself but to offer his own life for truth and justice. Being Christian means living like this, but this kind of life involves a rebirth: to be reborn from on high, from God, from Grace. This rebirth is the Baptism, which Christ gives to the Church in order to regenerate men and women to new life. An ancient text attributed to St Hippolytus states: “Whoever goes down into these waters of rebirth with faith renounces the devil and pledges himself to Christ. He repudiates the enemy and confesses that Christ is God, throws off his servitude, and is raised to filial status” Discourse on the Epiphany, 10: PG 10, 862).
Following tradition, this morning I had the joy of baptizing a large group of infants who were born in the past three or four months. At this moment, I would like to extend my prayers and my blessing to all newborn babes; but above all I would like to invite you all to remember your own Baptism, the spiritual rebirth that opened the way to eternal life to us. May every Christian, in this Year of Faith, rediscover the beauty of being reborn from on high, from the love of God, and live as a child of God.
FAUSTI - It is the beginning of His ministry. Jesus "appears" at the Jordan: only those who have accepted the Baptist's call and are baptized confessing their sins ,meet Him. Why does He also come? What sin does the Holy One have? No sin whatever! And that is why He bears the sin of all! If to sin is to leave the Lord, the abandonment is not felt by the one who abandons, but by the one who is abandoned. Evil is carried by those who love and do not it. Jesus, the Righteous One is the Lamb of God, who takes upon Himself the sin of the world, John will say when he sees Him coming (Jn. 1:29). In the Jordan, at the threshold of the promised land, everyone pours out his sins: it is like a river of impurity that separates him from the promised land. Into it the Righteous One immerses Himself and fulfills God's judgment. We leave our filthiness in the water, coming out of it cleansed; He immerses Himself in it, coming out charged with our filthiness. This choice of Jesus, who queues up with sinners and immerses Himself in our evil, it reveals God as full compassion for all His creatures. It is the Revelation of a Holy God, different from the One that everyone accepts or denies, and who will be manifested on the Cross. The Baptist recognizes the superiority of Jesus. He does not want to baptize Him because he wants His Baptism. He ignores that His Baptism comes precisely from His being baptized in us. We are baptized into His solidarity with us, into His death for us(Rom. 6:3). If He, the Just One, does not die for us sinners, we die alone. We immerse ourselves in water but do not receive the Spirit. If He, on the other hand, immerses Himself and dies with us, we are no longer alone: whether we wake or sleep, we are always with Him (1Th 5:10), Who loved us and gave Himself for us (Gal 2:20). "For now go away." Jesus asks me, like John, not to prevent Him from entering my death. Otherwise He cannot give me His life, right where I need it! So it is convenient for us, for you and for Me, Jesus says. It is convenient for you that I immerse Myself in your solitude and stay close to you; and it is convenient for Me, because otherwise I would not be Emmanuel, God Love. What is convenient for you is necessary for Me! So both I and you do justice. Justice is what God wants. And God wants all people to be saved through the knowledge of their truth as sons in the Son (1 Tim 2:4). His immersion in the waters of our death is the obligatory passage for Him to reveal Himself as Son. "Behold, the heavens have been opened. "In His death the veil of the temple is torn. God is no longer hidden; the heavens, previously closed, are opened. The prophet's wish is fulfilled: "If you would tear the heavens open and come down!" (Is 63:19). "A voice" God has no face; one need not make images of Him, nor of man. For He is the Voice, who expresses the Word, and His Face is the Son, Who realizes it. The Son is the very face of the Father: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (Jn. 14:9). The Father confirms Jesus' choice by saying, "'Well done! You are my Son, equal to me: You do what pleases me" ( Jn 14:9). Adam also wanted to be equal to God, but he did not know what pleases God. In the whole Gospel the Father speaks only twice: Here and at the Transfiguration. Here to confirm the Son in His choice of Servant; there to reveal to us the Glory of this Son, so that we may hear Him and become like Him too. Baptism is our birth into the Life of the Son.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
RispondiEliminaThe Messiah asks to be baptized so that all righteousness be fulfilled, that God’s design which passes through filial obedience and solidarity with fragile and sinful mankind, be fulfilled. It is the path of humility and of God’s complete closeness to his children. As soon as Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit alighted on him like a dove, as a voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17). We rediscover our own Baptism in the Feast of the Baptism. Just as Jesus is the Beloved Son of the Father, we too, reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, know we are loved children — the Father loves us all! —, the object of God’s satisfaction, brothers and sisters of many brothers and sisters, assigned with a great mission to bear witness and proclaim the Father’s boundless love to all mankind. This Feast of the Baptism of Jesus reminds us of our own Baptism. We too were reborn in Baptism. In Baptism the Holy Spirit came down to remain within us. (Angelus, 12 January 2020)
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
RispondiElimina12 January 2020
Just like Jesus who went to be baptized, you too are bringing your children.
Jesus replies to John: “let all righteousness be fulfilled” (cf. Mt 3:15). To baptize a child is an act of justice towards them. Why? Because at Baptism we offer a treasure, at Baptism we offer a pledge: the Holy Spirit. Baptism endows the child with the strength of the Holy Spirit: the Spirit that will defend and assist each of them throughout life. This is why it is so important to baptize them when they are little, so that they may grow with the strength of the Holy Spirit.
This is the message that I would like to give you today. You have brought your children today [so that they may receive] the Holy Spirit within them. And make sure that they develop in the light, with the strength of the Holy Spirit through catechesis, assistance, education and your example at home.... This is the message.
I do not want to say anything more important than this. Only some advice. Children are not accustomed to come to the Sistine chapel. It is their first time! They are not used to being closed in an environment that is also a bit stifling. And they are not used to being dressed like this, for a feast day as beautiful as today. They will feel a bit uncomfortable at times. And one will start [to cry]... — the concert has yet to begin! — but one will start then another ... Do not be alarmed: let your children cry and scream. Rather, if your child cries and complains, perhaps it is because it feels too hot: remove something; or because it is hungry: breastfeed him, here, yes, always comfortably. Something I also said last year: they have a “choral” dimension: it is enough for one of them to start to “sing” and everyone follows and there will be a concert. Do not be alarmed. It is a beautiful homily when a baby cries in church. It is a beautiful homily. Make sure that they are all right and let us move forward.
Do not forget: you let the Holy Spirit enter children.
BENEDICT XVI
RispondiEliminaANGELUS 13-1-2013
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
With this Sunday following the Epiphany the Christmas Season draws to a close: the time of light, the light of Christ who appears, like the new sun on the horizon of humanity, dispelling the shadows of evil and ignorance. We celebrate today the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus: that Child, Son of the Virgin, whom we contemplated in the mystery of his Birth. We behold him today as an adult immersing himself in the waters of the River Jordan and thereby sanctifying all water and the whole world, as the Eastern Tradition stresses. But why did Jesus, in whom there is no shadow of sin, go to be baptized by John? Why did he perform that gesture of penitence and conversion, beside all those people who in this way were trying to prepare for the coming of the Messiah? That gesture — which marks the start of Christ’s public life — comes in continuity with the Incarnation, the descent of God from the highest heaven into the abyss of hell. The meaning of this movement of divine lowering is expressed in a single word: love, the very name of God. The Apostle John writes: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him”, and he sent him “to be the expiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:9-10). That is why the first public act of Jesus was to receive baptism from John, who, seeing him approaching, said: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29).
Luke the Evangelist recounts that while Jesus, having received baptism, “was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form, as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, ‘Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased’” (3:21-22). This Jesus is the Son of God who is totally immersed in the will of the Father’s love. This Jesus is the One who will die on the cross and rise again through the power of the same Spirit who now descends upon him and consecrates him. This Jesus is the new man who wills to live as the son of God, that is, in love; the man who in the face of the evil of the world, by choosing the path of humility and responsibility he chooses not to save himself but to offer his own life for truth and justice. Being Christian means living like this, but this kind of life involves a rebirth: to be reborn from on high, from God, from Grace. This rebirth is the Baptism, which Christ gives to the Church in order to regenerate men and women to new life. An ancient text attributed to St Hippolytus states: “Whoever goes down into these waters of rebirth with faith renounces the devil and pledges himself to Christ. He repudiates the enemy and confesses that Christ is God, throws off his servitude, and is raised to filial status” Discourse on the Epiphany, 10: PG 10, 862).
Following tradition, this morning I had the joy of baptizing a large group of infants who were born in the past three or four months. At this moment, I would like to extend my prayers and my blessing to all newborn babes; but above all I would like to invite you all to remember your own Baptism, the spiritual rebirth that opened the way to eternal life to us. May every Christian, in this Year of Faith, rediscover the beauty of being reborn from on high, from the love of God, and live as a child of God.
FAUSTI - It is the beginning of His ministry. Jesus "appears" at the Jordan: only those who have accepted the Baptist's call and are baptized confessing their sins ,meet Him. Why does He also come? What sin does the Holy One have? No sin whatever!
RispondiEliminaAnd that is why He bears the sin of all!
If to sin is to leave the Lord, the abandonment is not felt by the one who abandons, but by the one who is abandoned. Evil is carried by those who love and do not it.
Jesus, the Righteous One is the Lamb of God, who takes upon Himself the sin of the world, John will say when he sees Him coming (Jn. 1:29).
In the Jordan, at the threshold of the promised land, everyone pours out his sins: it is like a river of impurity that separates him from the promised land. Into it
the Righteous One immerses Himself and fulfills God's judgment.
We leave our filthiness in the water, coming out of it cleansed; He immerses Himself in it, coming out charged with our filthiness. This choice of Jesus, who queues up with sinners and immerses Himself in our evil, it reveals God as full compassion for all His creatures. It is the Revelation of a Holy God, different from the One that everyone accepts or denies, and who will be manifested on the Cross.
The Baptist recognizes the superiority of Jesus.
He does not want to baptize Him because he wants His Baptism.
He ignores that His Baptism comes precisely from His being baptized in us.
We are baptized into His solidarity with us, into His death for us(Rom. 6:3).
If He, the Just One, does not die for us sinners, we die alone. We immerse ourselves in water but do not receive the Spirit.
If He, on the other hand,
immerses Himself and dies with us, we are no longer alone: whether we wake or sleep, we are always with Him (1Th 5:10), Who loved us and gave Himself for us (Gal 2:20).
"For now go away." Jesus asks me, like John, not to prevent Him from entering my death. Otherwise He cannot give me His life, right where I need it!
So it is convenient for us, for you and for Me, Jesus says. It is convenient for you that I immerse Myself in your solitude and stay close to you; and it is convenient for Me, because otherwise I would not be Emmanuel, God Love.
What is convenient for you is necessary for Me!
So both I and you do justice.
Justice is what God wants.
And God wants all people to be saved through the knowledge of their truth as sons in the Son (1 Tim 2:4).
His immersion in the waters of our death is the obligatory passage for Him to reveal Himself as Son.
"Behold, the heavens have been opened. "In His death the veil of the temple is torn.
God is no longer hidden; the heavens, previously closed, are opened.
The prophet's wish is fulfilled: "If you would tear the heavens open and come down!" (Is 63:19).
"A voice" God has no face; one need not make images of Him, nor of man.
For He is the Voice, who expresses the Word, and His Face is the Son, Who realizes it.
The Son is the very face of the Father: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (Jn. 14:9).
The Father confirms Jesus' choice by saying, "'Well done! You are my Son, equal to me: You do what pleases me" ( Jn 14:9).
Adam also wanted to be equal to God, but he did not know what pleases God.
In the whole Gospel the Father speaks only twice:
Here and at the Transfiguration.
Here to confirm the Son in His choice of Servant; there to reveal to us the Glory of this Son, so that we may hear Him and become like Him too.
Baptism is our birth into the Life of the Son.