Most baptisms are performed on infants who do not remember being baptized.  The role of parents and God parents is to bring that baptized child up in the knowledge of God’s purpose for him/her.  Once that child reaches an age of reasoning they will begin, at least, to understand what it means to be a beloved child of God and how they are like Jesus, meant to bring God’s justice to the world.

While most of us may not remember our own baptism, we have witnessed the baptism of another and we recall how the Priest baptized each child/person with water and how the Priest said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy sprit.”  Our individual baptism was like that of Jesus by John in our Gospel reading today.  Although we could not see it, the Spirit of God came upon us and although we could not hear it said, we became a beloved child of God, with whom He is very pleased.

So what exactly does God expect of us now that we are baptized and given the gift of the Holy Spirit and have become children of God?  Our first reading today is from Isaiah.  This is one of four servant songs in Isaiah and was written by Second Isaiah in the sixth century.  It offers encouragement for the Israelites who thought their exile would never end.  The “servant” in the first part of the reading is like Abraham, Moses, David or Israel and all her leaders and is the chosen one.  The kings of Israel, blessed by God with His Spirit and strength, had a mission completely different from a political one:  They would bring forth justice, a reflection of God’s love for his people on the earth.

The second section refers to “you” and there is no particular identity attached to this pronoun.  It can be an individual, a prophet, or Israel herself.  The words of the Lord are a direct and personal call of the servant and sets a task for that servant:  “…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.”  

In both sections “justice” and “light” are clearly imaged and the endowment of God’s Spirit on a chosen one with whom God is pleased is reverberated in the Gospel account of the Baptism of Jesus.  Our mission, then, should echo that of Jesus’ mission, to bring light to the world, to bring the Gospel (the Good News) into the world…to fully participate in the Servant’s mission of covenant, light and freedom to which all of us are called through our baptism!

This week’s Psalm is Psalm 29:  The Lord Will Bless His People 

Psalm mp3  and   Psalm lead sheet

Have a blessed week!!