Discussion Questions
First Reading
Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
F1. God says, “here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. What are the implications?
F2. Wastelands, deserts, rugged land and rough country (Isaiah 40). Could these words describe our world today? Covid? Election politics? Racism? Climate crisis? Does this reading suggest that there is help in fixing these or do you have to do it all yourself?
Second Reading
Acts 10:34-38
Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7
S1. In the reading from Acts, Peter is quoted as saying this about Jesus: “He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38).” Compare this with Isaiah in the First Reading: “I formed you … to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”
S2 Did we do anything to earn salvation? Why does God give it to us? What does St. Paul in his letter to Titus say about the extravagance of God’s gift to us?
Gospel
Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
G1. John the Baptist was the middleman. He pointed back to Isaiah and forward to Jesus, connecting the whole plan. What or who are the “middlemen or women” who connect you with God? Can you serve as a middle-one?
G2. “After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, … ” then, what? What do you think he was praying about? What does Pope Francis say this teaches us about prayer?
It is a great lesson for us: we are all immersed in the problems of life and in many complicated situations, called upon to face difficult moments and choices that get us down. But if we do not want to be crushed, we need to raise everything upwards. And this is exactly what prayer does. It is not an escape route; prayer is not a magic ritual or a repetition of memorized refrains. No. To pray is the way to let God act within us, to understand what he wants to communicate to us even in the most difficult situations, to pray to have the strength to go forward.
Many people feel they cannot go on, and they pray: “Lord, give me the strength to continue.” We too, very often, have done this. Prayer helps us because it unites us to God, it opens us up to the encounter with him. Yes, prayer is the key that opens our heart to the Lord. It is dialoguing with God, it is listening to his Word, it is worshipping, remaining in silence, entrusting what we are experiencing to him. And sometimes it is also crying out to him like Job, venting with him. … He is the father; he understands well. He never gets angry with us. And Jesus prays.
Angelus for Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
Jan 9, 2022
Anne Osdieck
**From Saint Louis University