The Baptism of the Lord, Cycle ABC

Our readings for Sunday are here. 

These are the poem, my notes, and interpretations of Fr Dennis’ homily from the Masses of

• 12 January 2020 8:30AM, Cycle A
• 11 January 2015, Cycle B
• 14 January 2011, Cycle A

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The poems Fr Dennis references these years are:

• 12 January 2020 8:30AM homily — The End of the Holidays by Mark Perlberg
• 11 January 2015 — Advent VII, The Man Who Was a Lamp by John Shea
• 14 January 2011, Cycle A homily — Diagnosis by Sharon Olds

For the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the first and second readings are the same for all three liturgical years A, B, and C.  However, there is a different gospel option for each year, which we’ll discuss below (from notes of Fr Dennis Dillon SJ’s homilies).

In 2015 (albeit Cycle B but supplemented with notes from the 2020 Cycle A homily), to better set the context of D2’s discussion, we reflected that —

• In the first reading, Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7, Israel is commissioned as a chosen leader despite its insignificance at that time in the world order, per the New Jerome Biblical Commentary, 2nd Edition).
• The gospel reading for each cycle (A, B, or C) has a different emphasis and consequence in the telling of Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan by John the Baptist:
  • Cycle A, the gospel according to Matthew (3:13-17) (emphases added):  “After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him.  // And a voice from the heavens saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
  • Cycle B, the gospel according to Mark (1:7-11) is even more personal than Matthew in that only Jesus hears God’s blessing (emphasis added):  “And a voice came from the heavens, ‘You are my Beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.'”  In other words, it is easy to believe that only Jesus hears the blessing.
  • Cycle C, the gospel according to Luke (3:15-16, 21-22) takes a more universal, or at least public, approach.  Compare the gospel of John which acclaims Jesus, though not by name, to “The people.”  In Luke, “[a]fter all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying … ,” the dove descended.”  And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”  The context lends support to the interpretation that “the people” heard this.
• Why does this nuance matter? Because if everyone in the crowd (a là Luke and John) hears “my beloved Son,” the crowd is, essentially, being told to follow this guy.  But if only Jesus hears this blessing (a là Mark and to a lesser extent Matthew, this year’s gospel), then it more fits the model of Baptism and its blessing as a personal call, more like we would each experience and determine how to respond (e.g., going to the wilderness and figuring out “What now, God?!?!?”).

In 2020 and 2011 Cycle A homilies, we reflected that —

• Themes of Light pervade this season:
  • Advent:  We are awaiting the Light in the darkness.
  • Christmas / Nativity:  Light into the world.
  • Baptism:  Light from Light.
    • Luke’s Baptism — to all
    • Matthew’s Baptism – a Father-Son moment, a blessing for the journey.  It is a moment of obvious union in this world.  God the Creator cannot do what the Son is sent to do / be.
• The Perlberg poem offering “the season’s perfect oxymoron” of the signs of “United” and “Departures” right next to each other at the airport, as her the poet’s daughter and her husband are leaving after the Christmas holiday.  The poem captures the complexity of parent-offspring relationship (particularly as adults) that in a way is resonant with the complexity of the Baptism.  So many meanings all at once.  The Sharon Olds poem, used in 2011, also captures this complexity but between a mother and child.  The Perlberg poem perhaps captures more of the richness of the Baptism emotions we can imagine for God and Son in this moment.

In the 2015 Cycle B homily, we reflected that —

• Much of the Cycle B homily (and a daily Mass homily) that laid out this comparison of the Baptism in the four gospels discussed above.
• In this homily he also described how the gospel of Mark uses John the Baptist, in what he says and does, to reveal who Jesus is.
• He also introduced us to John Shea’s poem (a very, very long one!) about John the Baptist.  The poem covers all we know of John the Baptist!
• In somewhere around the tenth stanza and a couple following ones, John Shea captures the “Are you the One Who Is to Come?” question with “This arrow of a question was sent from prison” by way of John the Baptist sending his disciples to ask, “Are you the Messiah or not [because you ain’t acting like the Messiah I was expecting!]?”
• Recall that John the Baptist was going around saying [paraphrased], “You think I’m something?  He’s gonna baptize you with fire, not just water!”  The implicit meaning is that the Messiah is going to be like us … but only more so, with exclamation points.  As John Shea writes, “The more is arriving ….”
• So John the Baptist gets his Messiah, just not the who and how that John the Baptist expected.
• John the Baptist’s role was to point to Jesus; to gather people and then give way
  • John Shea’s poem offers “I can denounce a king / but I cannot enthrone one.”
  • So, as being fully human, like John the Baptist, we can point to what God is doing in our lives and receive the bread to follow Jesus in this journey.
  • This is not unlike Recovery Spirituality in that there are many tools in this century to help address addictive behavior and choices, but the other 1/2 or more of the effort is leaving the result to our Higher Power, to Grace, or, as so many of us might say, to God.  There is a letting go that has to happen, and so John the Baptist did.

Featured image to follow! 🙂