Gospel Reflection for The 12th day of January in the year of Our Lord, 2025
THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD
Luke 3:15-22
15 And as the people were of opinion, and all were thinking in their hearts of John, that perhaps he might be the Christ;
16 John answered, saying unto all: I indeed baptize you with water; but there shall come one mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to loose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. 18 And many other things exhorting, did he preach to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, when he was reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done; 20 He added this also above all, and shut up John in prison.
21 Now it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, that Jesus also being baptized and praying, heaven was opened; 22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape, as a dove upon him; and a voice came from heaven: Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
Being from a very rural community in the south, the fact that I am Catholic makes me somewhat of an oddball. People often ask why I converted to Catholicism. Sometimes they are confrontational and less than charitable. You see, Protestants declare that faith alone is all that is necessary to be saved. If fact, that is one of the two founding principles of Protestantism – Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura, faith alone and the Bible alone.
Yet, Jesus did not leave us a Bible. He left us a Church. The Church compiled, wrote and translated the Bible over more than three centuries. Think about that for a moment, for longer than America has been a nation, the early Christians had no Bible. What they had was a Church that taught Sacred Tradition through the authority our Lord gave His Holy Apostles. More than that though, they had the Holy Sacraments. The Sacraments instituted by God to be given to us through His priests are far more powerful and efficacious than any intellectual understanding one may acquire. Jesus said that we must have faith, but also be Baptized and receive His body and blood in the Eucharist to be saved. Faith is belief in things we cannot see or understand, simply because we believe in God and God said it to be true.
Many Protestants reject even Baptism, but all reject the Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Last Rights and the Priesthood.... most all reject the sacrament of Marriage, believing that divorce is okay. All of these rejections are in absolute opposition to the words of the Bible. Rather than the Bible being their sole authority, doctrines and opinions of mere men are what they truly follow. Yes, they believe in God... but so does the devil and his demons. They proclaim that Jesus is Lord, but they refuse to worship as He demands. They hear the Word of God, but will not obey.
I am Catholic, because I do not want our Lord to say to me, “I never knew you, depart from me...”
A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings January - June, 2025. may be purchased as a .pdf directly from me using this link https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-daily-catholic-devotional-reflections.html or in paperback on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DK3M1WDZ
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Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.