Gospel Reflection for The 8th day of January in the year of Our Lord, 2024
The Baptism of the Lord
Gospel
Mark 1:7-11
7 And he preached, saying: There cometh after me one mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. 9 And it came to pass, in those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And forthwith coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit as a dove descending, and remaining on him.
11 And there came a voice from heaven: Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
The dove was an important symbol in Judaism and in the early Christian Church. Recall that it was the dove who showed Noah when the lands had dried so that he could land the ark. Here, we see the Holy Spirit descend as a dove. The Spirit, as we know, has no physical form. But, in this instance the Spirit took on the form of a dove, just as Jesus, the Word of God, took on human form.
Before the incarnation of Jesus, no one had ever seen God. In the Old Testament it is said that no one could look upon the face of God and live. Moses heard the voice of God, but had to hide his face when God passed. This is why the making of any object to symbolize God was expressly forbidden in the Ten Commandments. Humanity was given to idolatry. The one, true God would not reveal His form to His chosen people. Yet, it is a mistake to believe that the making of statues and such, used in religious worship, was forbidden. Scarcely had God forbidden the making of “graven images” as the Protestants like to remind us, that He instructed a bronze serpent to be made and held before His sinful people – all who looked at it would survive the bites of poisonous snakes that God had plagued them with as a punishment. Then, in the building of the Ark of the Covenant and the objects of the Holy Temple, many objects of religious worship were employed. God order the making of golden cherubim, bulls and all manner of gold and silver objects to symbolize His heavenly power and the Heavenly Hosts.
When our Lord came in human form, he sanctified the physical world. For the first time since our first parents were expelled from the Garden of Eden, man could see God! Man could speak with God, face to face. Now, knowing the appearance of our Lord, painting His image and carving His form upon crucifixes to remind us of his reality became a form of worship. The Holy Spirit would be portrayed as a dove in many paintings, stained glass windows and such. And, in the early Church, all Eucharistic hosts that were not consumed were kept on the altar, in a box made in the shape of a dove.
Many people are uncomfortable with the physical aspects of Catholic worship. But, the God that made all things and called them good redeemed His creation through his life, death and resurrection. Simple water, bread, wine, salt and oils blessed by His priests are infused with His holiness. We have the water to cleanse us of our sins, the Eucharist to feed our souls and many sacramentals to aid us in our worship and to protect us from evil. Holy water and blessed salt are holy items that drive away evil spirits and demons. They also remind us of our faith. We should take every opportunity to use them, to pray the prayers of the Church especially with Rosaries and Scapulars, etc. and to embrace all that our Lord has made holy. Far from being old fashioned superstition, as many Protestants charge, the sacramentals provided to us by the Catholic Church are just like the mud that Jesus used to heal the eyes of a blind man. Yes, He could have healed the man through His word and faith in His word, alone. But, He chose to use the physical elements to give sight to the blind man. Let us use blessed items to combat our spiritual blindness.
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Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.