Liturgical Leaflet for an Active Participation in the Celebration of the Eucharist

10 January 2021 BAPTISM OF OUR LORD Year B

Called to Share in the Mission

of the Lord's Servant
J
esus’ baptism in the Jordan River is the second “epiphany,” i.e.,
the second manifestation of his identity and mission.
Jesus is the “Servant of the Lord,” the man filled with the Spirit,
sent to “establish justice on the earth.” His mission will also entail taking
upon himself the weight of mankind’s sinfulness, as foretold in the last of
the Servant’s Songs. His seeking to be baptized in the company of the re-
pentant sinners is his first official step in fulfilling the Father’s plan for him.
Jesus’ baptism reminds us of our own baptism when the Father pro-
nounced over us the most splendid sentence we will ever hear: “You are
my beloved son/daughter!” Let us live in the light of such unmatchable
dignity, for we all share in the mission of the “Servant” – the mission
to be “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.”

forgiveness, for he is full of Gloria

gentleness and compassion. All –Glory to God in the
(Pause)
highest, and on earth peace
Entrance Antiphon P –Lord Jesus, by your bap- to people of good will. We
(To be recited only when no Entrance tism you showed your praise you, we bless you, we
Hymn is sung.) readiness to atone for our adore you, we glorify you, we
After the Lord was bap- sins. Lord, have mercy! give you thanks for your great
tized, the heavens were opened, All – Lord, have mercy! glory, Lord God, heavenly
and the Spirit descended upon King, O God, almighty Father.
him like a dove, and the voice P –Lord Jesus, at your
baptism you were pro- Lord Jesus Christ, Only
of the Father thundered: This Begotten Son, Lord God,
is my beloved Son, with whom claimed God’s beloved
I am well pleased. Son. Christ, have mercy! Lamb of God, Son of the Fa-
All –Christ, have mercy! ther, you take away the sins
Greeting of the world, have mercy on
P –Grace and peace from P –Lord Jesus, in your bap- us; you take away the sins of
God our Father, the Lord Je- tism you were anointed the world, receive our prayer;
sus Christ, and the Holy Spirit with the Holy Spirit. you are seated at the right
be with you all! Lord, have mercy! hand of the Father, have mer-
All – And with your spirit! All – Lord, have mercy! cy on us. For you alone are
P –May almighty God have the Holy One, you alone are
Penitential Act mercy on us, forgive us our the Lord, you alone are the
P –Coming together as sins, and bring us to everlast- Most High, Jesus Christ, with
God’s family, with confi- ing life. the Holy Spirit, in the glory of
dence let us ask the Lord’s All – Amen! God the Father. Amen!

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 Collect (Opening Prayer) Responsorial Psalm Ps 29 The Word of the Lord!
P –Almighty ever-living R –The Lord will bless His All – Thanks be to God!
God, who, when Christ had people with peace!
been baptized in the River Gospel Acclamation Mk 9:7
Jordan and as the Holy Spirit All – Alleluia! Alleluia!
descended upon him, sol- The heavens were opened
emnly declared him your and the voice of the Fa-
beloved Son, grant that your ther thundered: “This is
children by adoption, reborn my beloved Son, listen to
of water and the Holy Spirit, him.”
may always be well pleasing Alleluia! Alleluia!
to you.
Through our Lord Jesus Gospel Mk 1:7-11
Christ, your Son, who lives The baptism of Jesus marks
* Give to the Lord, you sons the beginning of his public life.
and reigns with you in the of God, give to the Lord glory
unity of the Holy Spirit, one As he enters the waters of the
and praise, give to the Lord Jordan River, he receives the
God, for ever and ever. the glory due his name; adore
All – Amen! the Lord in holy attire. R.
investiture as the long-awaited
Messiah/Servant on whom the
* The voice of the Lord is Father’s favor rests.
over the waters, the Lord,
over vast waters. The voice of P –The Lord be with you!
the Lord is mighty; the voice of All – And with your spirit!
1st Reading Is 42:1-4.6-7 the Lord is majestic. R. P –A proclamation from the
This is the first of the four * The God of glory thun- holy Gospel according to
“Songs of the Servant of the ders, and in his temple all Mark
Lord.” All Christian genera- say, “Glory!” The Lord is en- All – Glory to you, O Lord!
tions have seen in the “Servant throned above the flood; the This is what John pro-
of the Lord” a figure/prophecy Lord is enthroned as king for- claimed: “One mightier than
of Jesus of Nazareth, the one in ever. R. I is coming after me. I am not
whom alone the Father is fully worthy to stoop and loosen the
pleased. 2nd Reading Acts 10:34-38 thongs of his sandals. I have
This passage is an excerpt baptized you with water; he
R –A proclamation from the from the discourse of Peter will baptize you with the Holy
Book of the Prophet Isa- in the house of the Roman Spirit.”
iah centurion Cornelius. It is used It happened in those days
in today’s feast because of its that Jesus came from Naza-
Thus says the Lord: reference to Jesus whom God
“Here is my servant whom reth of Galilee and was bap-
“anointed with the Holy Spirit tized in the Jordan by John.
I uphold, my chosen one with and power.”
whom I am pleased, upon On coming up out of the wa-
whom I have put my Spirit. R –A proclamation from the ter he saw the heavens be-
He shall bring forth justice Acts of the Apostles ing torn open and the Spirit,
to the nations, not crying out, like a dove, descending upon
Peter proceeded to speak him. And a voice came from
not shouting, not making to those gathered in the house
his voice heard in the street. the heavens, “You are my be-
of Cornelius, saying: “In loved Son; with you I am well
A bruised reed he shall not truth, I see that God shows no
break, and a smoldering wick pleased.”
partiality. Rather, in every
he shall not quench, until nation, whoever fears him The Gospel of the Lord!
he establishes justice on the and acts uprightly is accept- All – Praise to you, Lord Jesus
earth. The coastlands will wait able to him. Christ!
for his teaching. You know the word that
I, the Lord, have called he sent to the Israelites as he Homily
you for the victory of justice, I proclaimed peace through Je-
have grasped you by the hand. sus Christ, who is Lord of all, Profession of Faith
I formed you, and set you as a what has happened all over (Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed)
covenant of the people, a light Judea, beginning in Galilee
after the baptism that John All –I believe in one God, the Fa-
for the nations, to open the ther almighty, maker of heaven
eyes of the blind, to bring out preached, how God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the and earth, of all things visible
prisoners from confinement, and invisible.
and from the dungeon, those Holy Spirit and power. He
went about doing good and I believe in one Lord Jesus
who live in darkness.” Christ, the Only Begotten Son
healing all those oppressed
The Word of the Lord! by the devil, for God was with of God, born of the Father be-
All – Thanks be to God! him.” fore all ages. God from God,

10 January 2021
Light from Light, true God from C –For the missionaries and All –It is right and just!
true God, begotten, not made, those involved in charitable
consubstantial with the Father; works: May their apostolate P –It is truly right and just,
through him all things were be a source of enlightenment, our duty and our salvation,
made. For us men and for our consolation, and total libera- always and everywhere to
salvation he came down from tion for all. Let us pray to the give you thanks, Lord, holy
heaven, (bow)* and by the Holy Lord! R. Father, almighty and eternal
Spirit was incarnate of the Vir- C –For all of us, gathered God.
gin Mary, and became man.* here: May we always be For in the waters of the
For our sake he was crucified aware that we, too, are God’s Jordan you revealed with
under Pontius Pilate, he suf- adopted children and please
fered death and was buried, and signs and wonders a new
Him at all times. Let us pray Baptism, so that through the
rose again on the third day in to the Lord! R.
accordance with the Scriptures. voice that came down from
He ascended into heaven and is C –Let us pray in silence heaven we might come to be-
seated at the right hand of the for our personal intentions. lieve in your Word dwelling
Father. He will come again in (Pause) Let us pray! R. among us, and by the Spirit’s
glory to judge the living and the P –Lord Jesus, at your bap- descending in the likeness
dead and his kingdom will have tism you accepted to carry the of a dove we might know
no end. crushing burden of our sins. that Christ your Servant has
I believe in the Holy Spirit, May we lighten that burden been anointed with the oil of
the Lord, the giver of life, who by honoring the commit- gladness and sent to bring the
proceeds from the Father and the ments of our baptism. You good news to the poor.
Son, who with the Father and the who live and reign for ever And so, with the Powers of
Son is adored and glorified, who and ever.
has spoken through the prophets. All –Amen! heaven, we worship you con-
I believe in one, holy, catholic stantly on earth, and before
and apostolic Church. I confess your majesty, without end we
one Baptism for the forgiveness acclaim:
of sins and I look forward to the All – Holy, holy, holy Lord,
resurrection of the dead and the God of hosts. Heaven and
life of the world to come. Amen! Preparation of the Gifts earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest!
P –Pray, brethren . . . Blessed is he who comes in
Prayer of the Faithful All –May the Lord accept the the name of the Lord. Hosan-
sacrifice at your hands, for na in the highest!
P –Today we recall Jesus’ the praise and glory of his
formal investiture as “the name, for our good and the
Servant of the Lord” who will Memorial Acclamation
good of all his holy Church.
take upon himself the sins of P –The mystery of faith!
the world. With gratitude for All – When we eat this Bread
his generosity, let us pray: Prayer over the Offerings and drink this Cup, we
All –Merciful God, hear us! P –Accept, O Lord, the of- proclaim your Death,
ferings we have brought to O Lord, until you come
C –For the whole Catho- honor the revealing of your again!
lic Church and especially beloved Son, so that the obla-
her leaders: May they be the tion of your faithful may be
humble and brave heralds of transformed into the sacrifice
Jesus in the world of today. of him who willed in his com-
Let us pray to the Lord! R. passion to wash away the sins All – Our Father . . .
of the world. P –Deliver us, Lord . . .
C –For the newly baptized, Who lives and reigns for
especially those who are All –For the kingdom, the
ever and ever. power, and the glory are
adults: May they treasure the All – Amen!
presence of the Holy Spirit yours, now and for ever.
in their hearts and always act Preface of the Baptism
according to his promptings. Sign of Peace
of the Lord
Let us pray to the Lord! R. Breaking of the Bread
P –The Lord be with you!
C –For the poor, the sick, All –And with your spirit! All – Lamb of God, you take
and the jobless: May they P –Lift up your hearts! away the sins of the world: have
find in the Christian com- All –We lift them up to the mercy on us. (2x)
munity the support and help Lord! Lamb of God, you take away
they need. Let us pray to the P –Let us give thanks to the the sins of the world: grant us
Lord! R. Lord our God! peace.

Baptism of Our Lord

 Communion cred gifts, we humbly entreat All –Amen!
P –This is the Lord Jesus, your mercy, O Lord, that, P –May you always con-
the Lamb of God who takes faithfully listening to your tinue to enjoy His favor
upon himself the burden of Only Begotten Son, we may and devote yourselves to
our sins. Happy are those who be your children in name and doing good.
are called to his Supper. in truth. All –Amen!
All – Lord, I am not worthy Through Christ our Lord.
that you should enter under All – Amen! P –May you be always faith-
my roof, but only say the word ful to the commitments
and my soul shall be healed. of your baptism.
All –Amen!
Communion Antiphon
(To be recited only when
P –May almighty God bless
no Communion Hymn is sung.) P –The Lord be with you. you: the Father, and the
All –And with your spirit! Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Behold the One of whom All –Amen!
John said: I have seen and testi- P –Bow your heads and
fied that this is the Son of God. pray for God’s blessing. P –Go in peace, glorifying the
(Pause) Lord by your life!
Prayer after Communion –May God send His light All – Thanks be to God!
P –Nourished with these sa- upon you.

One with Sinners to Save All from Sin

• Jess P. Balon
he history of mankind up to Jesus Christ sinners from the slavery of Satan and to reinstate

T was mostly a sad sequence of sins and

deeply rooted forms of moral perversion.
It started with Adam and Eve. Then the situa-
them in the freedom and dignity of God’s chil-
dren. He knew that God’s plan to save sinners re-
quired that he should take their sins upon himself
tion became ever worse, to the point that God and carry such a crushing weight up to Calvary.
seemed to have no choice but to “purify” the earth Jesus knew all this. And he said “Yes!”
through a devastating flood. (See Gn 6-9.) Such mission started in the stable of Bethle-
But even that catastrophic event did not solve hem, but it was in the waters of the Jordan River
the problem, for the inclination to sin was deeply that Christ’s role as the “cross bearer” of man-
imbedded in the heart of every human being, as kind was formally announced by the “voice” who
the behavior of the youngest son of Noah and the identified him with the Servant who was to deliver
episode of the tower of Babel showed. (See Gn his people through his ignominious death. (See
9:22 and 11:1-4.) Is 53:12.) It was on that occasion that Jesus, in
the sight of everybody, joined the crowd of sin-
So God planned to remedy that hopeless situ-
ners who were receiving the baptism of repen-
ation by establishing that a descendant of Abra-
tance from John. It was also on that occasion
ham would be the obedient “Servant-Son” who that God (the “voice from the heavens”) declared:
would undo all the wrongs done by men through „You are my beloved Son; with you I am well
the centuries. Jesus of Nazareth, God’s Incar- pleased!” (Mk 1:11) That was when his formal
nate Son, was this long-awaited Savior. “investiture” as “Servant-Son” took place.
But why did this sinless Messiah have to un- Jesus accepted all this in all freedom, with
dergo the humiliating experience of queueing up unwavering love, in humble obedience to the will
with sinners in order to receive John’s “baptism of the Father. And that’s why the Father was well
of repentance”? Because this also was part and pleased with him. (See v. 11.) He will likewise be
parcel of his mission as “Savior of the world.” pleased with us if we, too, like Jesus, are single-
Jesus knew that his mission was to save all minded in fulfilling the Father’s plan for us.

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