The Baptism of the Lord (B) 10 January 2021 A

AT LAUDS ON WEDNESDAY MORNING, the Solemnity of the Epiphany, we sang: ‘Today the Church has been joined to her heavenly bridegroom, since Christ has purified her of her sins in the river Jordan: the Magi hasten to the royal wedding and offer gifts: the wedding guests rejoice since Christ has changed water into wine, alleluia.’ This is a lot to celebrate on one day. In the early Church Baptism was normally conferred three times a year, at Easter, at Pentecost and at the Epiphany. That is partly why we celebrate Advent in ways that resemble Lent, the great period of Baptismal preparation, and why this Sunday is devoted to the Baptism of the Lord. We are being invited to enter more deeply on this day into the mystery of our own Baptism. In the Jordan, Christ washes his body, the Church, in preparation for her marriage to him. From the ends of the earth the Magi, who represent the Gentiles and people of every age and race (Africa, Europe and Asia; youth, maturity and old age), hasten with gifts to celebrate the wedding of Christ to his people. This mysterious wedding of God in the person of his Beloved Son with his people will involve the sacrificial death (symbolised by myrrh) of the Royal God Man (gold and frankincense). The marriage feast at Cana is a joyful celebration that also points to the shedding of Christ’s blood that will purify us from our sins as we are joined to him in the death and resurrection of Baptism. We can reflect prayerfully on these endless mysteries in the days of deep winter. Guidance for Places of Worship during National Lockdown: Mass and other acts of worship can continue under the restrictions announced by the Prime Minister on January 4 2021. We should remember the importance of wearing face coverings. We are asked to provide hand sanitiser at the entrances and exits, to have stewarding and managed social distancing. Full cleaning of the space should be done immediately after the church has been in use. The time in church should be minimised and liturgical choices should include a short homily, the omission of the prayers of the faithful and any other permitted mitigations. The church should be well ventilated. There should be no congregational singing and, if a choir or cantor sings, the choice of music should not prolong the service excessively. The Bishop has expressed his thanks to those who clean and steward our churches for their generosity. You can read the full guidance by clicking here. Times for Mass and Confessions:  Saturdays: 4.30 p.m. in the Abbey Church  Sundays: 11 a.m. in the Abbey Church  Monday to Saturday (inclusive) 8.35 a.m. in the Abbey Church  Tuesday, Friday, Saturday at 9.30 a.m. in the Church of the Holy Ghost, Midsomer Norton. Confessions are heard on Saturdays after Mass in the Holy Ghost and from 10.30 to 11.00 a.m. on Sundays in the Abbey Church. Please remember that the wearing of facemasks and the rules for social distancing will remain in place for all those attending Mass and other services.

Christmas Masses: Parishioners will be pleased to know that almost 400 people attended one of the four Christmas Masses held at the Abbey Church. I would like to thank the 22 parishioners who worked as stewards and readers to make our Masses so successful and secure. We received many compliments on how well social distancing and COVID-19 precautions were implemented. It was no mean feat to be disinfecting the church after Midnight Mass! This team of volunteers are on hand to continue to work during lockdown to ensure that Mass is a COVID-19-secure event, which can be safely enjoyed by all participants. Peter Beaven

The Christmas Mass collections came to £727.91p. The monks are most grateful for the generosity of our parishioners, which has also been expressed through cards, gifts and kind words. Bishop Declan’s Pastoral Letter: On the Feast of the Holy Family (27 December 2020) Bishop Declan sent a pastoral letter in which he made the following points:  A Christian family is a reflection of the Holy Family. Children are helped to grow to maturity in their family as Jesus grew in his. Parents are a child’s first teachers and the family is the domestic Church.  In Baptism we are immersed in the life of the Trinity and prepared to share the Good News that Jesus has brought to us. We are to be missionary disciples.  Bishop Declan acknowledges the harm done by members of the Church to children by child abuse. He is willing to see anyone who has been abused and who would like to see him.  He points out that the family of the Church changes, as do all families. In three year’s time there will be only 44 priests in this diocese under retirement age. The Bishop asks us to look at the consequences of this in a positive way.  Bishop Declan invites us to prepare for the Diocesan Day on 26 June by creating an exhibition of the life of our parish. He suggests that we look at our history and tell the story of our parish community. Bringing these stories to the Diocesan Day will enrich the wider family of the Diocese. The full text of the Pastoral Letter can be found here: https://cliftondiocese.com/bishop/ Please pray for Frances West, who died on 22 December 2020. May her soul rest in the peace of Christ. Ampleforth elect a new Abbot: On Tuesday 5 January the monks of Ampleforth elected Dom Robert Igo to be their new Abbot. Abbot Robert, a former Anglican priest, was born and grew up Manchester, where he worked as a student nurse in the 1970s. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1987 and joined Ampleforth in 1988. Most recently, he has been Prior of Ampleforth’s dependent Priory in Zimbabwe, the Monastery of Christ the Word in Macheke. Let us keep Abbot Robert and the Ampleforth community in our prayers.

Deepening our knowledge of God’s Word: Dom Anselm recommends Bible Project to us. You will find short and clear presentations of the books of the Bible and understandable accounts of their historical setting. Such clarity it the result of a great deal of study and careful preparation. You could start by looking at the presentation on the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel we hear at Mass during Year B.

Learn the Bible for Free Online | BibleProject™ Watch free Bible videos on different books and themes of the Bible from BibleProject. Free Bible resources, Bible videos, and Bible study tools. bibleproject.com

https://bibleproject.com/

Book Review: ‘I Have Seen The Lord’ Witnesses of an Encounter with the Risen Christ. This is an insightful and inspirational book from the Weave of Manquehue Prayer. The Weave is a network of friends who seek to help each other to pray, cultivate spiritual friendship and share with many the good news of the Risen Christ. Their book shows how sharing encounters with the Lord, through Lectio Divina (Divine Reading) can change a person’s life for the better and deepen an understanding of the Word of God. You will discover a series of testimonies from a range of people who wish to give witness. It is courageous to lay bare one’s inner emotions by sharing spiritually, but it is obvious that by doing so each testimony encourages us all to participate in the Word and not be afraid to share our experiences with others for the Glory of God. It can be read in one sitting or, as I found, in taking time to digest each testimony in order to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit speaking in our own hearts. This book is full of wise messages, illustrating that by prayerful meditation and sharing the Scriptures, it really is possible to open our hearts to the Word of God and in turn to spread the Word. You can buy it for £7.99 on Amazon here. Rita Beaven

MASS READINGS FOR THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD

First reading Come to me and your soul will live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you Thus says the Lord: Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money, come! Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk. Why spend money on what is not bread, your wages on what fails to satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and you will have good things to eat and rich food to enjoy. Erfurt Cathedral, Genesis Window, c. 1370 Pay attention, come to me; listen, and your soul will live. With you I will make an everlasting covenant out of the favours promised to David. See, I have made of you a witness to the peoples, a leader and a master of the nations. See, you will summon a nation you never knew, those unknown will come hurrying to you, for the sake of the Lord your God, of the Holy One of Israel who will glorify you. Seek the Lord while he is still to be found, call to him while he is still near. Let the wicked man abandon his way, the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn back to the Lord who will take pity on him, to our God who is rich in forgiving; for my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways not your ways – it is the Lord who speaks. Yes, the heavens are as high above earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts. Yes, as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do (Isaiah 55:1-11).

Second reading Jesus Christ came by water and blood Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten by God; and whoever loves the Father that begot him loves the child whom he begets. We can be sure that we love God’s children if we love God himself and do what he has commanded us; this is what loving God is – keeping his commandments; and his commandments are not difficult, because anyone who has been begotten by God has already overcome the world; this is the victory over the world – our faith. Who can overcome the world? Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God: Jesus Christ who came by water and blood, not with water only, but with water and blood; with the Spirit as another witness – since the Spirit is the truth – so that there are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and all three of them agree. We accept the testimony of human witnesses, but God’s testimony is much greater, and this is God’s testimony, given as evidence for his Son (1 John 5:1-9).

Gospel Motivation: This Sunday we will celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. In our Baptism we too were submerged in water as in a tomb, we died, and were raised back to life in Christ by the Spirit. This baptismal sequence of death and resurrection is repeated throughout the pilgrimage of our lives. When everything seems lost, baptismal grace converts a situation of death into one of resurrection, an apparent deadlock into a necessary breakthrough. Sown in us a seed in our Baptism, life in Christ is pushing from within to emerge, tearing away dead skin until we are completely transformed into Him. As you prepare to listen to this Gospel, let go of everything that is not Christ. Cling to nothing but Him. With Him, go well down into the depths of your Jordan today. Be buried with Him in your Baptism. From there, be called back to new life with Christ in the Spirit. And pay attention to the words of Father, because now they are being addressed to you.

'You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you' In the course of his preaching John the Baptist said: ‘Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’ It was at this time that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised in the Jordan by John. No sooner had he come up out of the water than he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you’ (Mark 1:7-11).