GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY – 6TH JANUARY 2017

GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)

DATE: 6TH JANUARY 2017

FRIDAY – CHRISTMAS WEEKDAY

FIRST READING: 1John 5:5-13

PSALM: Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20

GOSPEL: Mark 1:7-11

THEME: BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

No one jumps into a swimming pool and comes out dry. A person soaked in water does not need to say that he/she is wet; the evidence is there for all to see.

John stood in the river Jordan, baptising. As people came to him, he immersed them in water for the forgiveness of sins and simultaneously preached about the coming Messiah. In the course of his preaching he said, “I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mk. 1:8). The pronoun, “He” in the text is a reference to Jesus Christ.

Using the imagery of baptism, John the Baptist preached that the central mission of Jesus is to immerse and soak us in the One who is life. At the heart of the mission of Jesus is to make us sharers in the Divine life. This is corroborated by the First reading – “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life” (1 Jn. 5:11-12).

To be baptised with the Holy Spirit is to be filled and soaked with the very life of God. The evidence of this is a manifestation of the Fruit of the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5:22-23) and the Gifts of the Spirit (cf. 1Cor 12). Once filled with such life, a person is enabled to live a godly life.

Christianity is not an accumulation of teachings meant just for the “head”. It is primarily an encounter with the person of Jesus Christ and an experience of faith. This encounter transforms. It makes a person to live the life of heaven already here on earth. Baptism with the Holy Spirit is meant for everyone who has faith in Jesus.

May the evidence of having been baptised with the Holy Spirit show forth in the lives of all of us who claim to be followers of Jesus.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, immerse me in your Power, Love and Truth and make me a sharer of the Divine Life. Amen

Andrews Obeng, svd

DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES

BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)

“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).

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