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Today’s edition focuses on the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. This is only recorded direct episode of Jesus interacting with John the Baptist. To give you some context, John was inviting people to the Jordan River for a spiritual cleansing. This spiritual cleansing has been referred to as Baptism. John the Baptist was not the first to use this model of using water to wash away sin. There are many examples in Scripture of special rituals used to described spiritual washing. Two examples from the Hebrew Testament are Ezekiel 36:25 “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness.” From Isaiah 1:16 we have “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes.” From the New Testament we have Hebrews 10:22, “Our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” There are others but you get the point. This raises the question, why did Jesus request a spiritual practise that was used to wash away sin when Jesus did not sin?

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This Gospel speaks about the days after the birth of Jesus. What should have been a joyous event has a very dark layer behind it. In this account we have the Magi coming to acknowledge the birth of a king. On this note I encourage my listeners to check out the editions of this podcast published on December 29, 2024, and December 30, 2023, where I speak about the Wisemen and the role they played. The wisemen were looking for the infant who would be king of the Jews. Even though the Star that was guiding them was according to tradition, a testimony that something very special was happening, there is no indication that they actually thought or knew that they were some of the first witnesses to recognize the birth of the Messiah.

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In today’s Gospel we hear of another dream that Joesph had. If you are joining us for the first time, I urge you to listen to last weeks podcast edition where I speak about the dreams that Joseph had. I also recommend that you listen to the December 17th edition published in 2023 where I speak about Joseph’s mission. Today I want to speak about the dream that Joseph has. In the dream Joseph is warned to flee to Egypt as the king was plotting to kill the child. I want to draw your attention to fact that the angel directed Joseph to take the child to Egypt. We never learn where in Egypt or how long they would live in Egypt. I cannot help but wonder why Egypt? There were many other countries or places Joesph could have been directed to go. Don’t forget that the Jews had experienced slavery in Egypt. The book of Exodus, one of the books in the Torah is devoted to the Jews gaining their freedom and embarking on reclaiming the promised land. Passover is one of the most widely observed and venerated Jewish holidays, embodying themes of freedom, faith, and community remembrance that are central to Jewish life and spirituality. Yet, Egypt is the country chosen to protect the Messiah.

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In this podcast today I will be focusing on the dreams that Joseph had. We don’t have much else on St. Joseph. We don’t hear much about him after the birth of Jesus. He is mentioned in the story of the finding in the temple when Jesus was 12 years old but that is it. We learn that Joseph was a dreamer. There are four dreams recorded, outlining what Joseph experienced. In Matthew 1:16, 18-20, an angel appears in the dream instructing Joseph to take Mary as his wife, in Matthew 2:13-14 Joseph dreams that they are in danger so decide to flee to Egypt. In Matthew 2:19-20 Joseph returns because in a dream he learns that it is now safe. He has another dream Mt 2:22 instructing him to live in Galilee. In each case Joseph makes a significant choice. I am wondering if our dreams may also have an important place in our spirituality.

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John was the Hearld of the Messiah. His role was simple, increase the awareness of the people of the coming Messiah. In the Gospel of John 3:30, John the Baptist says, "He must increase, but I must decrease," referring to Jesus Christ. This expresses John's understanding that his own role and influence were meant to diminish as Jesus' ministry and prominence grew. John’s statement reflects humility and the acknowledgment that Jesus must be exalted above all else. I am curious why Jesus had a herald, someone to prepare for him. Did Jesus need someone to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah. The people had been waiting for centuries. I suspect that many prophets played an important role in supporting Jesus.

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I focus on information from the Scriptures and try to figure out what likely was the back story. I will attempt to explain more in detail as we unpack the life of John the Baptist. I am very careful in using tradition and historical context to gain insight into biblical times. Often tradition may have a political agenda and may not always be factual. For example, Christian tradition holds that Herodias, fearing John might come back to life if body and head were together, had John’s head buried in Herod’s palace in Jerusalem. Islamic tradition believes the head of John the Baptist is buried under a specific pillar in Damascus, Syria, which was once the Basilica of Saint John the Baptist. Some traditions also claim the head was buried on the Mount of Olives by Joanna, the wife of Chuza, where it remained hidden for centuries. Various relics purported to be of John have been claimed in several other places, including France, specifically Amiens Cathedral, Turkey, and other parts of the Middle East. I think you can see why I will not be commenting on where John the Baptist is buried.

The good news is we can get more reliable insight to what the world was like from historians who lived and wrote at the time or shortly after the life of Jesus.

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I recognize that staying alert can be exhausting at times and there may be times when taking a break would be appropriate. I highly recommend developing skills to reflect on our lives when we might not have been as alert as we needed to be. Retreats, Devotions such as the Daily Examination of conscience, a prayerful reflection developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola may be helpful. Other examples are spiritual direction, contemplative prayer, Lectio Divina which is a meditative reading and contemplation of Scripture that draws attention to God's word through slow, reflective reading and prayerful response. These spiritual exercises help us compensate when we are not alert and need extra help to focus. Developing a reflective stance is worth the cost. Finding time and space in your life will not be easy for some.

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This Gospel describes some of the last moments of the life of Jesus on Earth. The Gospel seems more appropriate for Lent and Easter. Jesus says very little. He is dying on the cross, he is dismissed by the leaders who are responsible for his death. The most interesting conversation is between the two condemned men who are being crucified with Jesus. We do not know what their crimes were. In those days it did not take much to be condemned to death. We know nothing about the criminals. The two criminals take very different positions with Jesus. The first one taunts Jesus but is rebuked by the second who seems to have an amazing understanding of who Jesus is. It is ironic that the Pharisees with all their training in Scripture fail in recognizing Jesus as the Messiah yet here we have this criminal who is being executed but he is able to recognize who Jesus is. The criminal is rewarded for his faith. I suspect that the other criminal was pardoned too. There is no limit in the willingness of Jesus to forgive.

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