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Illustration: The Baptism of Christ, by Gregorio Fernández, c. 1630
Pope Francis’ Cycle of Catechesis. The Spirit and the Bride. 6.
Paul VI Room – Wednesday, 21 August 2024
Scripture Reflection: Acts 10:34, 37: And Peter opened his mouth and said: “you know the word which was
proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
Cycle of Catechesis. The Spirit and the Bride.
The Holy Spirit guides the people of God to meet Jesus our hope. 6.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” The Holy Spirit in the Baptism of Jesus
Today we reflect on the Holy Spirit who comes upon Jesus in the baptism of the Jordan and is poured out by him into his body which is the Church.
In the Gospel of Mark, the scene of Jesus’ baptism is described as follows: “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately, as he came up from the water, he saw the heavens being torn apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased'” (Mk 1:9-11).
The whole Trinity met at that moment on the banks of the Jordan!
There is the Father who makes himself present with his voice; there is the Holy Spirit who descends on Jesus in the form of a dove and there is the one whom the Father proclaims his beloved Son, Jesus.
It is a very important moment of Revelation;
It is an important moment in the history of salvation.
It will do us good to re-read this passage of the Gospel.
What happened at Jesus’ baptism was so important that all the evangelists reported it?
(see Footnote below)
The answer is to be found in the words that Jesus uttered, a short time later, in the synagogue of Nazareth, with clear reference to the event of the Jordan:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,” (Luke 4:18).
In the Jordan, God the Father “anointed” Jesus with the Holy Spirit, consecrating him as king, prophet and priest. .
In fact, in the Old Testament, kings, prophets and priests were anointed with perfumed oil.
In the case of Christ, instead of physical oil, there is spiritual oil which is the Holy Spirit, instead of the symbol there is the reality: there is the Spirit Himself who descends on Jesus.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit from the first moment of his Incarnation.
Now, however, was a “personal grace”, incommunicable; now, however, with this anointing, he receives the fullness of the gift of the Spirit but for his mission which he, as Head, will communicate to his Body, which is the Church, and to each one of us.
For this reason, the Church is the new “Royal, Prophetic and Priestly People“.
The Hebrew term “Messiah” and the corresponding Greek term “Christ” – Christós – both referring to Jesus, mean “anointed”: he was anointed with the oil of joy, anointed with the Holy Spirit.
Our very name “Christians” is explained by the Fathers in the literal sense: Christians means “anointed in imitation of Christ”.
There is a Psalm in the Bible which speaks of a perfumed oil, poured on the the high priest Aaron, which ran down to the hem of his robe (cf. Ps 133:2 – It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, upon the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!).
This poetic image of the descending oil, which was used to describe the happiness of living together as brothers and sisters, has become a spiritual reality and a mystical reality in Christ and in the Church. Christ is the Head, our High Priest, the Holy Spirit is the perfumed oil, and the Church is the body of Christ in which it spreads.
We have seen why the Holy Spirit is symbolized in the Bible, by the wind and, indeed, takes its very name from it, Ruah – wind.
It is also worth asking why he is symbolized by oil, and what practical lesson we can draw from this symbol.
In the Maundy/Holy Thursday Mass, when consecrating the oil called “chrism”, the bishop, referring to those who will receive the anointing at Baptism and Confirmation, says this: “May this anointing penetrate and sanctify them, so that, freed from their natural corruption and they are consecrated temples of his glory, they may spread the fragrance of a holy life”.
It is an application that goes back to Saint Paul, who wrote to the Corinthians: “For we are the fragrance of Christ before God” (2 Cor 2:15).
The anointing perfumes us, and a person who lives his anointing with joy also perfumes the Church, the community, the family with this spiritual fragrance.
We know that, unfortunately, sometimes Christians do not spread the fragrance of Christ, but the bad smell of their own sin.
And let us never forget sin distances us from Jesus, sin turns us into bad oil.
And the devil – don’t forget this – usually, the devil comes in through the pockets – be careful.
But this should not distract us from the commitment to fulfil, as far as we can and in our own environment, this sublime vocation to be the good odor of Christ in the world.
The fragrance of Christ comes from the “fruits of the Spirit”, which are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22).
So says Paul, and how nice it is to find a person who has these virtues: a person who loves, a person who is joyful, a person who makes peace, a person who is generous, not miserly, a kind person who welcomes everyone, a good person.
It is nice to find a good person, a faithful person, a meek person, a person who is not proud…
If we try to cultivate these fruits and if we find these people, then, without our realising it, someone around us will feel a little of the fragrance of the Spirit of Christ.
Let us ask the Holy Spirit to make us more aware of being anointed, anointed by Him.
____________________________________________________________
Footnote: The Baptism of Jesus
Matthew 3:13-17:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.”
Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were openedand he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son,with whom I am well pleased.”
Mark 1:7-11:
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.”
Luke 3:21:22
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form, as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.”
John 1:29-34
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.’
I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
And John bore witness, “I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him.
I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
