Breaking the Word – Page 1708 – Rev. Fr. Victor Antonyraj SDB

10.01.2010 BAPTISM

Posted under Reflections on January 8th, 2010 by

"You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." Lk 3,22

One would expect the voice to say " I Baptize you in the name…"

A liturgical sacramental formula.

But the voice says " "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

The voice speaks of relationship (my son),

and the outcome of this is happiness, satisfaction, a pleasant feeling.

So Baptism is that of building relationship.

God is pleased, happy and satisfied when there is relationship.

Our God is a God of relationship.

In fact God is relationship (TRINITY).

God demands from the people of Israel to care for orphans,

widows and strangers.

These three groups of people are

people who have lost their relations.

Orphans have lost their parents.

Widow has lost her husband.

Strangers have none of their relations

in the land of sojourn.

These are the people who have no relations.

They need relations to live.

God does not want anyone to live without relations.

God wants all persons to be with relations.

Whenever a relationship is expressed or lived

then there is Baptism.

Through Baptism we relate to God

Through Baptism we relate to the members of the church

Through Baptism we relate all who believe in God

So Baptism is the starting point of building relationships.

That was what the public ministry of Jesus.

He went about saying that all belong to God

and all are related to God (OUR FATHER…)

and if the relationship was broken he was

reconciling them and asking them to return to God

This is building up Gods Kingdom.

What is BAPTISM to me?

09.01.2010 GIVEN FROM HEAVEN

Posted under Reflections on January 8th, 2010 by

"No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven. " John 3, 27

This seems to be the best witness of John the Baptist.

All the gifts are from heaven. They are from GOD.

This witness is not directly about Jesus.

This is a general witness about God.

This is a witness about God in man.

Today, in the modern world, man is happy with his talents.

He is proud of his achievements.

Man thinks that all he has are the result of his effort.

In a sense he makes himself a God.

And he believes in himself.

Some believe in their achievements themselves.

They believe in the results.

They believe in the products.

They are materialists.

Material things become god for them

They worship material thinks.

In Luke 12,20 the man is happy and proud of the produce.

And God said "Fool, …"

Probably John the Baptist expresses what we find in Micah 6,8:

You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you:

Only to do right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.

It is said that this verse expresses the faith of the People of Israel.

Even if the whole of the Old Testament is destroyed, said an OT theologian,

with this verse the whole of the OT could be understood and re-written!

To walk humbly before God is to accept that he is the creator

and we are his creatures.

We live and exist in Him and through Him and for Him

We are all His gifts.

All we have are his gifts.

We are witnesses to this.