Week 16 Baptism 13/01/25

Baptism is a sign of God’s love and forgiveness, it marks a fresh start and a new beginning. When we are baptised we are welcomed into the Church community of believers who love us, support us and help us to grow. During baptism we are anointed as priest, prophet and king and called to live like Jesus did.

Day 1 – Head

On the first day of our prayer we will be reflecting on The Word of God to help us to understand our theme.

We begin our prayer this morning with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke

R./Glory to you O Lord.

As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, ¹⁶ John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R./ Thanks be to God

On Sunday we celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, let us meditate on John the Baptist.

Young John, the son of the priest Zechariah, grew up in and around the temple, acquainted with its rituals. And he sensed that the true Messiah was on the horizon. And so he went away from the old temple, but he continued to act as a priest of a new Temple.

John was baptising people in the Jordan. Why this ritual? Well, in the Jerusalem temple, a pilgrim would cleanse himself in a mikvah, a ritual bath, before he entered to make sacrifice. John was acting as a priest, and the River Jordan was his mikvah. But what—or, better, who—was the new Temple? Jesus, who came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John. The heavens were torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descended on him.

This is temple talk. When the high priest entered into the Holy of Holies, he was entering into the heavenly realm. The Holy of Holies was the place where the “heavens were torn open” and a humble human being could enter. So the point is that Jesus is himself the new Holy of Holies.

John the Baptist offered His life to God and served Jesus faithfully. Which person from the Bible, or holy man or woman do you find most inspiring? How do they influence the way you live your life?

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

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Day 2 – Heart

On the second day of the week we focus on our hearts. How can the scripture that we looked at yesterday impact our lives, and the lives of others? What themes can we draw from the scripture?

We begin our prayer with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Jesus is the Son of God and we are God’s people. At Baptism we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

What difference do you think being filled with the Holy Spirit makes?

The Holy Spirit can help to make us brave and to bring us joy. Just as we can tell that a tree is good because of the fruit that grows on it, we can tell if the Holy Spirit is working in us by the way that we act and how we treat other people.

For instance, we can share what we have with others who do not have enough. We can be kind to others. We can try to make our world a fairer and better place for all people to live in.

Some fruits of the Spirit are love, peace, kindness and generosity. How do you think you can be kind, loving and generous to others? How can you bring peace?

We are all God’s people no matter where in the world we live, no matter where we come from or what we look like, whether we are rich or poor. We are all members of the same global family. And so we try to be loving, kind, generous and bring peace to all people. In this way, we hope that others will be able to see the fruits of the Holy Spirit and our baptism in all that we do.

How will you show the Holy Spirit working in you in this coming week?

Let us pray together,

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful,
and enkindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created,
and you shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.

We end our prayer with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

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Day 3 – Hands

On the final day of the week we try to put into action the things we have learnt and reflected on previously in the week, hence the hands link!

We begin our prayer with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

We pray together: Lord help us to bring new life to the world! Amen

As we reflect on Baptism and the role of the Holy Spirit, we would like you to write a prayer to the Holy Spirit for peace and understanding for all God’s people. You can do this as a whole form group and write one prayer onto the dove template provided, or each write one short prayer onto the dove template provided.

Think about the people that you know who need peace in their lives, the people around the world who need peace and and situations where you pray for peace in your own life.

You can finish by reading your prayer or prayers to each other.

We end our prayer with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.