January 11, 1990
The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana
5
Commentary
Mass Readings"
Gospel Commentary for Sunday, January 13,
1991; The Baptism of Our Lord- Mark 1:7-11
Mark has just told us of John's first ministry,
preaching repentance and a washing or baptism in
the Jordan to express repentance. John seems to
have met with considerable success. Then John
fulfills his second ministry, to bear witness to
Jesus as the one for whom he is preparing the peo-
pl e . John points to his own unworthiness in rela-
tion to "the Mighty One" who is coming after
him. He is not even worthy to untie the sandal
strings of the one for whom he is preparing. There
is a comparison of John's baptism with that which
Jesus initiates. John baptizes with water only;
Jesus' baptism will bestow the Holy Spirit.
Suddenly Jesus comes upon the scene to be
baptized by John in the Jordan. He is said to come
from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, a northern
province of ancient Israel. John baptizes Jesus. As
Jesus comes up out of the water, the heavens break
open and a voice is heard: "You are my beloved
Son. With you I am well pleased." This is Mark's
version of the baptism of Jesus.
A comparison with the other gospels is quite
interesting. Mark is the oldest gospel and so we
find no sign of a problem that becomes evident in
the later gospels. The problem: How can Jesus sub-
mit to a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness
of sins? How can Jesus, called "Son of God" in
Mark's introduction and "Son" by the voice of
heaven, submit to baptism by one who calls
himself unworthy even to be his slave? The other
gospels had to deal with these questions.
00kril hess of John to Jesus:
t[ e baptism of Jesus
In Matthew Jesus also comes from Galilee to
be baptized by John in the Jordan. But John is
made to protest and to suggest that Jesus should
rather baptize him. Jesus has to order John to bap-
tize him and John consents to do so. Thus Mat-
thew solves the problem by having John perform
the baptism because Jesus orders him to do so.
Luke is even more interesting. He describes Herod
putting John into prison before he mentions the
baptism of Jesus. Then he adds: "When all the
people were baptized and Jesus was also bap-
tized .... " But Luke cannot bring himself to say
that John baptized Jesus. The still later Gospel of
John does not even mention the baptism of Jesus,
only the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus.
As is true of every part of the gospels, the
story of the baptism of Jesus was preserved and in-
cluded in the gospel for a theological purpose
rather than being part of a biography. Why does
Mark include the baptism of Jesus in his gospel?
The scene must be taken as a whole, including the
voice from heaven. In contrast to Luke and Mat-
thew, Mark has no infancy gospel. There is no
angelic annunciation in Mark corresponding to
that made to Joseph in Matthew and to Mary in
Luke. These annunciations identified the one to be
born of Mary, In Mark the voice from heaven
serves that same purpose. The voice identifies
Jesus as Son, thus corroborating Mark's statement
in the introduction that Jesus is Son of God.
Apart from identificatibn we can assume that
it was important for Christian theology before Mark
to associate Jesus in some way with Christian bap-
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tism. Theology affirmed that Christian baptism be-
stowed the Holy Spirit. Thus John is stating Chris-
tian theology when he says: "He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit." Now the one who bestows
the Spirit should also be seen as having that same
Spirit. The baptismal scene furnishes the relation-
ship between Jesus and the H01y Spirit. The Sp!rit
descends upon Jesus as a dove as Jesus comes ip
out of the water.
It was also important that the one into whose
name Christians were baptized should himself
have undergone baptism. An Old Testament
parallel can be seen in the attempt to relate b.oth
Abraham and Moses to the practice of circumci-
ston. What was asked of the children of Abraham
and the followers of Moses had to also be ex-
perienced by Abraham and Moses. St. Paul even
speaks of Jews being "baptized into Moses," akin
to his expression of being baptized into Christ.
The celebration of the Baptism of Our Lord
reminds us of our own baptism. Like Jesus we re-
ceived the Holy Spirit. As Jesus was shown to be
Son of God by the voice at baptism, so our baptism
makes us children of God. At the impulse of the
Spirit Jesus is then driven into the wilderness of
temptation. We face that same wilderness daily.
Confidence in having received the Spirit in bap-
tism will help us to overcome the wilderness as
Jesus did.
Other readings for Sunday, January 13, 1991:
Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Acts 10:34-38.
Bishops: 'No proof' found at Medjugorje
By JOHN THAVIS "On the basis of research which the authority of Mary's
Catholic News Service conducted so far, one cannot af- "messages" has been asserted
firm that supernatural appari-
ROME (CNS)- Yugoslavian tions or revelation are in-
bishops said after several years volved," the statement said.
of study there is no proof that The continual flow of
Marian apparitions have oc- pilgrims to Medjugorje from
curred at Medjugorje. various parts of the world,
At the same time, the bishops however, requires "the atten-
encouraged better pastoral and tion and care of the bishops," it
liturgical services for the said.
pilgrims who travel to the The statement suggested that
popular site in western the bishops' conference work
Yugoslavia. They said this with the local bishop to set up
would help visitors avoid prac- pastoral and liturgical pro-
tices that are "not in agreement grams for the pilgrims, who
with the spirit of the church." make the trip "motivated by
Their statement was drawn faith."
up at a meeting of Yugoslavian In this way, it said,
"bishops in November and pass- "phenomena and contents that
ed on to the Vatican for review, are not in agreement with the
It was not made public by the spirit of the church" can be
bishops or the Vatican, but the avoided.
Italian Catholic news agency A Yugoslavian bishop, who
ASCA published its translation asked not to be named, said the
of the communique Jan. 2. The statement reflected the view
contents were confirmed to that, whatever the church's
Catholic News Service by .final judgment on Medjugorje,
church sources in Yugoslavia. it is recognized that visitors
The sources said the state- will continue to arrive there
ment was approved in a nearly and need closer pastoral
unanimous vote, with 19 guidance.
bishops in favor and one ab- "It's almost impossible to
staining, stop the pilgrimages, but we
A Vatican doctrinal official need to take care of these peo-
said the statement sounded a pie," hesaid.
clear note of caution to Bishop Pavao Zanic of
Catholics, but added that it was Mostar-Duvno, the diocese that
not a "definitive" pronounce- includes Medjugorje, has been
ment on the subject. Such a pro- one of the strongest critics of
nouncement, if it is made, will events there. He said long ago
probably take years, another he did not believe the appari-
Vatican official said. tions were authentic, and he de-
In the statement drawn up nounced the way local Fran-
Nov. 27-28, the bishops re- ciscanpriests guided the young
callod that the alleged appari- "visionaries" and promoted
tions, which began in 1981, Medjugorje as a place of
have been the focus of studies at pilgrimage.
the diocesan and national level Bishop Zanic has said he is
for several years, especially upset by the way in
against his own episcopal
authority.
A Vatican doctrinal official,
who asked not to be identified,
said the bishops' cautionary
statement against defining the
apparitions as supernatural
should be accepted by the
faithful around the world.
"1"he meaning is clear. The
bishops have reached this con-
(:lusion at this point in time,
,ased on the research per-
Iormed," he said.
But he added that the state-
ment was not meant to be a
definitive judgment on Med-
jugorje. The bishops and the
Vatican will no doubt continue
to look at new evidence con-
nected with the events, he said.
The alleged apparitions at
Mediugorje are said to be conti-
nuing today, This has
presented problems for.Vatican
and other officials ch/rged with
investigating the claims and
made it likely that a final Judg-
ment will take years.
A leading Mariologist and
one of the chief supporters of
the alleged apparitions, Father
Rene Laurentin, said the
bishops' statement did not rule
out an eventual upernatural
judgment on Medjugorje.
The statement does not
specifically "exclude" a super-
natural cause of the events
there, but merely says such a
judgment cannot be positively
given, Father 1,aurentin said in
a commentary published by the
Italian newspaper Avvenire
Jan. 3.
