1. "Seek the Lord
while he may be found, call upon him while he is near" (Is 55,6).
These words from the second part
of the Book of Isaiah…are an invitation to go more deeply into the meaning for
us of today's Feast, the Baptism of the Lord.
In spirit let us return to the
banks of the Jordan where John the Baptist administered a Baptism of
repentance, exhorting to conversion. Coming up to the Precursor is Jesus, and
with his presence he transformed that gesture of repentance into a solemn
manifestation of his divinity. A voice suddenly comes from heaven: "You
are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased" (Mk 1,11) and, in the
form of a dove, the Spirit descends upon Jesus.
In that extraordinary event, John
realized what had been said about the Messiah born in Bethlehem, adored by the
shepherds and the Magi. He was the very One foretold by the prophets, the
beloved Son of the Father; we must seek him while he can be found and call upon
him while he is at hand.
In
Baptism every Christian personally meets him; he is inserted into the mystery
of Christ's death and resurrection and receives a
new life, which is the life of God. What a great gift and what a great
responsibility!
-Blessed
John Paul II, Homily
of Feast of The Baptism of the Lord, 2003
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