Gospel for the Saturday before Epiphany

From: Mark 1:4-5; 7-11

The Ministry of John the Baptist

[4] John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. [5] And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

[7] And he (John the Baptist) preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. [8] I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

Jesus Is Baptized

[9] In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. [10] And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; [11] and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased."
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Commentary:

4. St John the Baptist presents himself to the people after spending five years in the desert. He invites the Israelites to prepare for the coming of the Messiah by doing penance. The figure of St John points to the continuity between the Old and New Testaments: he is the last of the prophets and the first of the witnesses to Jesus. Whereas the other prophets announced Jesus from afar, John the Baptist was given the special privilege of actually pointing him out (cf. Jn 1:29; Mt 11:9-11). The baptism given by the Precursor was not Christian Baptism: it was a penitential rite; but it prefigured the dispositions needed for Christian Baptism-faith in Christ, the Messiah, the source of grace, and voluntary detachment from sin.

5. "Confessing their sins": by seeking John's baptism a person showed that he realized he was a sinner: the rite which John performed announced forgiveness of sins through a change of heart and helped remove obstacles in the way of a person's acceptance of the Kingdom (Lk 3: 10-14).

This confessing of sin was not the same as the Christian sacrament of Penance. But it was pleasing to God because it was a sign of interior repentance and the people performed genuine penitential acts (Mt 3:7-10;Lk 3:7-9). In the Sacrament of Penance, in order to obtain God's forgiveness one must confess one's sins orally. In this connexion John Paul II has said: "And keep in mind that the teaching of the Council of Trent on the need for confession of all mortal sins still holds and will always hold(Sess. XIV, chap. 5 and can. 7). The norm taught by St Paul and by the same Council of Trent, according to which the worthy reception of the Eucharist must be preceded by the confession of sins when one is conscious of mortal sin, is and always will be in force in the Church (Sess. Xlll, chap. 7 and can. 11 )" (Address to penitentiaries of the four major basilicas in Rome, 30 January 1981).

8. "Baptizing with the Holy Spirit" refers to the Baptism Jesus will institute and shows how it differs from the baptism of John. In John’s baptism, as in the other rites of the Old Testament, grace was only signified, symbolized. "By the baptism of the New Law, men are baptized inwardly by the Holy Spirit, and this is accomplished by God alone. But by the baptism of John the body alone was cleansed by the water"(St. Thomas Aquinas, "Summa Theologiae, III, q. 38, art. 2 ad 1). Unchristian Baptism, instituted by our Lord, the baptismal rite not only signifies grace but is the effective cause of grace, i.e. it confers grace.” Baptism confers the first sanctifying grace and the supernatural virtues, taking away Original Sin and also personal sins if there are any, together with the entire debt of punishment which the baptized person owes for sin. In addition, Baptism impresses the Christian character in the soul and makes it able to receive the other sacraments" ("St. Pius X Catechism", 295). The effects of Christian Baptism, like everything to do with the sanctification of souls, are attributed to the Holy Spirit, the "Sanctifier". It should be pointed out, however, that like all he "ad extra" actions of God (i.e. actions external to the intimate life of the Blessed Trinity), the sanctification of souls is the work of all three Divine Persons.

9. Our Lord's hidden life takes place (apart form his birth at Bethlehem and the time he was in Egypt) in Nazareth of Galilee from where he comes to receive John's baptism.

Jesus has no need to receive this baptism of conversion. However, it was appropriate that he who was going to establish the New Alliance should recognize and accept the mission of his Precursor by being baptized with his baptism: this would encourage people to prepare to receive the Baptism which WAS necessary. The Fathers comment that our Lord went to receive John's baptism in order to fulfill all righteousness (cf. Mt 3:15), to give us an example of humility, to become widely known, to have people believe in Him and to give life-giving strength to the waters of Baptism.

"Ever since the Baptism of Christ in the water, Baptism removes the sins of all" (St Augustine, "Sermon" 135).

"There are two different periods of time which relate to Baptism--one the period of its institution by the Redeemer; the other the establishment of the law regarding its reception. [...] The second period to be distinguished, that is, the time when the law of Baptism was made, also admits of no doubt. Holy writers are unanimous in saying that after the Resurrection of our Lord, when he gave to his Apostles the command to go and 'make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost' (Mt28:19) the law of Baptism became obligatory on all who were to be saved" ("St. Pius V Catechism", Part II).

10. The visible presence of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove marks the beginning of Christ's public ministry. The Holy Spirit will also appear, in the form of tongues of fire, on the occasion when the Church begins its mission to all the world on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts2:3-21).

The Fathers usually interpret the dove as a symbol of peace and reconciliation between God and men. It first appears in the account of the flood (Gen 8:10-11) as a sign that God's punishment of mankind has come to an end. Its presence at the beginning of Christ's public ministry symbolizes the peace and reconciliation he will bring.

11. At the very beginning of his public life the mystery of the Holy Trinity is made manifest: "The Son is baptized, the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father is heard" (St Bede, "In Marci Evangelium expositio, in loc."). "The Holy Spirit dwells in him,” the same author goes on, "but not from the moment of his Baptism, but from the moment he became man." In other words, Jesus did not become God's son at his Baptism; he is the Son of God from all eternity. Nor did he become the Messiah at this point; he was the Messiah from the moment he became man.

Baptism is the public manifestation of Jesus as Son of God and as Messiah, ratified by the presence of the Blessed Trinity.

"The Holy Spirit descended visibly in bodily form upon Christ when he was baptized so that we may believe him to descend invisibly upon all those who are baptized afterwards" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Summa Theologiae", III, q. 39, a. 6 and 3).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.