FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The heavens opened and the Father’s voice resounded:
‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’ MK 9:8

ISAIAH 42:1-4,6-7

My Soul's Beloved, 

You are God's Covenant of Love with us. He sent You into the world not to condemn it but to redeem and sanctify it. You came into the world, my Lord and my God, not to crush the sinner, the wicked, the outcast, but to call us to repentance. You came to seek and save the lost. You said clearly that sick people need a doctor, not those who are well. You came for the sinner, not the righteous. Yet, O Lord, we human beings desire to crush our enemies. We wish ill on those who wrong us. We ask that those who oppose us and work against us be destroyed. 

The prophet Isaiah tells us clearly who You are. King of Kings, Lord of Lords, only and most beloved Son of the Living God, and yet You are humble. You left Your glory behind as the Father willed, and became like one of us in all things but sin. You came to seek the outcast, the sinner, the tax collector, the prostitute, the thief, those whom the world looks down upon, judges, condemns, and rejects. You who are God and for whom the world is a footstool, took upon Yourself the sins of the whole world so we would not be crushed, bruised, or our life quenched, or refused entry into the Kingdom of Heaven.

You came to reveal to us the Father's infinite, unsurpassable, and incomprehensible love for us that while we were yet sinners, You died for us, for He laid on You the punishment and the death that was ours.

Thank You, Lord. Help me never to take my salvation for granted, but to walk in Your will, embracing it always. Keep me safe in Your love until You call me home to Yourself to remain with You forever. Amen. 

Thus says the Lord:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom my soul delights.
I have endowed him with my spirit
that he may bring true justice to the nations.
He does not cry out or shout aloud,
or make his voice heard in the streets.
He does not break the crushed reed,
nor quench the wavering flame.
Faithfully he brings true justice;
he will neither waver, nor be crushed
until true justice is established on earth,
for the islands are awaiting his law.
I, the Lord, have called you to serve the cause of right;
I have taken you by the hand and formed you;
I have appointed you as covenant of the people and light of the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to free captives from prison,
and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.

PSALM 28(29):1-4,9-10

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

O give the Lord, you sons of God,
give the Lord glory and power;
give the Lord the glory of his name.
Adore the Lord in his holy court.

The Lord’s voice resounding on the waters,
the Lord on the immensity of waters;
the voice of the Lord, full of power,
the voice of the Lord, full of splendour.

The God of glory thunders.
In his temple they all cry: ‘Glory!’
The Lord sat enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits as king for ever.

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

ACTS 10:34-38

My Soul's Beloved, 

God has no favorites. How comforting this knowledge is to us sinners. In a world where the rich, the powerful, and the famous are given privileges, adulation, and recognition because of who they are, You, O Lord, love all without equally and without measure.

The people of Israel believed themselves to be better than people of other cultures, nations, and backgrounds because God chose them to ultimately reveal to the world who He was and is.  He did not choose them for any merit of their own but because they were the least. This is Your way, Lord. You are a God of contradiction, and this is why so many do not understand how God can be like You, humble always and seeking out always the last, the least, the lowest, the discarded, the crushed, those on the peripheries.

This, Beloved, is our consolation, that You came for all - the sinner and the saint and You are aware of the greater need of the sinner to encounter You in his/her brokenness and to be healed and restored by Your love and Your touch. Thank You, Lord.

Peter addressed Cornelius and his household: ‘The truth I have now come to realise’ he said ‘is that God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.
‘It is true, God sent his word to the people of Israel, and it was to them that the good news of peace was brought by Jesus Christ – but Jesus Christ is Lord of all men. You must have heard about the recent happenings in Judaea; about Jesus of Nazareth and how he began in Galilee, after John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil.’

MATTHEW 3:13-17

My Soul's Beloved, 

If each of us who is baptized and grafted onto Your Body strove always to do all that righteousness demands of us, we would all be saints and the Kingdom of Heaven would be among us. You show us the way to be holy. You show us how we ought to live and act in this pilgrimage from earth to heaven. John recognized who You were, and of course, he was reluctant to baptize You for baptism if for sinners and for repentance, and You, O Lord, are the Sinless One, the Lamb of God without blemish or stain. Yet You lined up with the sinner, identifying with the sinner, clothed in human flesh through the incarnation in the womb of the Virgin. Becoming Man, You wanted to enter fully into our humanity and all that it entails.

Thank You, Lord, for all You have done for us. Thank You for opening the gates of the Kingdom of God to us, gates that were shut to us by the old Adam. As the new Adam, Beloved, we now receive hope and a future. We are reconciled to the Father through You. If we wish the Father to receive us, Lord, then we must recognize and accept who You are for the Father and the Spirit rested on You as You stood in the waters of the Jordan to be baptized, and as the Spirit rested on You, the Father made this proclamation to the whole world, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.’ Anyone who rejects You, Lord, rejects hope of being saved. Grant O Lord, that Your sacrifice may not be in vain for anyone, but all be saved and come to the knowledge of Truth. You, my Beloved, are Truth. Sanctify us in the Truth.

Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. John tried to dissuade him. ‘It is I who need baptism from you’ he said ‘and yet you come to me!’ But Jesus replied, ‘Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that righteousness demands.’ At this, John gave in to him.
As soon as Jesus was baptised he came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice spoke from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.’