Please enjoy the last Chapel Podcast Reflection of the 2010 – 2011 school year.

Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him,
“How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” —For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.— Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘
you would have asked him
and he would have given you living water.”
The woman said to him,
“Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep;
where then can you get this living water?
Are you greater than our father Jacob,
who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself
with his children and his flocks?”
Jesus answered and said to her,
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again;
but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst;
the water I shall give will become in him
a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him,
“Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty
or have to keep coming here to draw water.

“I can see that you are a prophet.
Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain;
but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”
Jesus said to her,
“Believe me, woman, the hour is coming
when you will worship the Father
neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You people worship what you do not understand;
we worship what we understand,
because salvation is from the Jews.
But the hour is coming, and is now here,
when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth;
and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship him
must worship in Spirit and truth.”
The woman said to him,
“I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ;
when he comes, he will tell us everything.”
Jesus said to her,
“I am he, the one who is speaking with you.”

Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him.
When the Samaritans came to him,
they invited him to stay with them;
and he stayed there two days.
Many more began to believe in him because of his word,
and they said to the woman,
“We no longer believe because of your word;
for we have heard for ourselves,
and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

Please enjoy the Reflection, including one student’s spiritual autobiography. It will mesmerize you!

Christmastide, the Epiphany and the Baptism of Jesus

Welcome everyone back to the first Chapel after the Christmas holiday! What a remarkable holiday it was, punctuated with snow that started on Christmas and melted before we returned. Amazing. We hope that your holiday was fun and relaxing. Happy New Year!

We are beginning a new calendar year!  The first of January. It consists of 12 months and lasts 365 days and every four years 366 days. Our calendar year is the time it takes our planet to orbit our sun.

There are other ways to “mark” our year. Take for example, our academic year. We began in August and finish school in June. It is not a complete 365 day year, but we call it our academic year.

For anyone who accounts for finances, they are familiar with a fiscal year. That is, by year which begins pretty much anytime you want it to where you account for money coming in and money going out!  Our fiscal year starts the first of July and ends the last day of June.

But there is another way to mark our calendar that is especially important for our reflection today.  As many of you know, only a few weeks ago, at the beginning of Advent, we began another way of marking a year, the liturgical year.

The liturgical year is a walk with Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God the Father.   The church and begins the liturgical year with the first Sunday of Advent and it ends with Christmas day.  Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” It spans the four Sundays before Christmas Day.

Christmastide is the next season and lasts for 12 days between Christmas Day and Epiphany, the day we celebrate Jesus beging visited by the three wise men.

Next comes: Ordinary time after Epiphany.

And then: Lent which begins with Ash Wednesday.

And the holiest days of the year: The Triduum.  Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

Easter and Eastertide: From Easter to Pentecost.

Then a long time after Pentecost: Ordinary Time.  Gospels are ordered around Jesus’ ministry, miracles and parables. And this takes us back to Advent again.  The year is complete.

The feast of the Epiphany was celebrated last Sunday.  This coming Sunday is the feast of the baptism of Jesus which officially concludes Christmas time (or Christmastide) and begins Ordinary Time.

It is important to mention the Epiphany today because the Epiphany represents that Jesus came for all people.  Jesus was Jewish and some people during his ministry thought that he came to give the good news (the news of salvation) only to the Jewish people.  But this is not so.  You see, the wise men, (traditionally named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar) were not Jewish.. but they knew that Jesus was God’s son and came to worship him and offer him gifts. For us, it is important to know this so that we can help people understand that Jesus is “for them” to.

Let’s talk a bit about the next Sunday’s Gospel.  It is all about the baptism of Jesus.  Jesus begins his public ministry with his baptism.  It is an important event for us historically in the life of Jesus but also it gives us an example of what we must do in the filling our own baptismal promises.

Let’s consider John the Baptist: a voice crying in the wilderness!

John told the crowd, “I baptize you with water. The one who comes after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire!  I am not worthy to unfasten his sandals.”  John was answering the questions of whether or not he was the Messiah.  So his response was a powerful answer that Jesus was someone amazingly special, powerful and dynamic.

Since Jesus allowed himself to be baptized by John, it points to the importance of baptism in the Christian faith.  Baptism is a sacrament.  One of seven sacraments. The first sacrament.

Baptism is one of the sacraments of initiation.  Other Sacraments:  the Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Marriage, Holy Orders, Sacrament of the Sick.

We are initiated into the Christian faith through baptism.  We are “born again” in Jesus through baptism. Jesus said, “Unless you are born again, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The Catholic Church accepts the baptism from all other Christian churches.  Becoming a Christian begins with baptism.

Jesus initiates (or begins) his public ministry with his baptism.  He was about 30 years old.  No doubt he had studied long and hard to get to this point where it was “his time.”

Every year during Lent and Easter, we renew our baptismal vows.  In closing our reflection today and before we hear the second reading of the Gospel of the baptism of Jesus, let us take a moment to read new our baptismal vows.

Most of you were baptized when you were infants so your parents and godparents vocalized your baptismal vows and promised to help you grow in the faith until you could choose for yourself.

And you can. The following “Renewal of Baptismal Vows” is an ancient tradition and I invite you to follow me in renewing them.

V. Do you reject Satan?
R. I do.
V. And all his works?
R. I do.
V. And all his empty promises?
R. I do.
V. Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
R. I do.

V. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
R. I do.

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
R. I do.

V. God, the all-powerful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

All you

For Parents and Teachers:

For those of you serious about teaching your students and children about the Christian faith, this Gospel reading is very important. Jesus begins his public ministry by allowing himself to be baptized by his cousin, John.  Known to us as John the Baptist.

I would recommend to you to look over at the baptismal vows are above and talk to your students and children about them.  Engage them in open ended questions where they can explore more deeply what these baptismal vows actually mean.

For example, what does it mean to “Reject Satan and all of his empty promises?”

The baptismal vows concentrate on the Christian belief in God the father, God the Son, and Holy Spirit.  These reflect the emphasis upon the Trinity in the Nicean Creed. Lead your children and students to the awareness that the evangelists Matthew, mentions God the Father, the Holy Spirit and, of course, Jesus in this Gospel on Christ’s baptism.  This understanding of the Trinity is a cornerstone of the most Christian belief.

Here are some questions that you might use with your students and children.

1.  Who was Jesus’ cousin?  (John the Baptist)

2.  Who baptized Jesus?      (John the Baptist)

3.  When people ask him if he was the Messiah what did John the Baptist say?  (Paraphrase: I baptize you with water.  The one who comes after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.)

4.  Approximately how old was Jesus when he was baptized? (30 years old)

5.  In what river was Jesus baptized?  (Jordan)

6.  What is the significance of the feast of the Epiphany?

a.  What were the names of the three king’s?

b.  What gifts did they bring?

c.  What significance does each of the gifts have?

More reflective questions:

7.  What was the relationship between Jesus and John?  That is, what did they talk about? What were they passionate about?  What did they share in common? How did they feel about the Romans to occupy their country?

8.  What did John know about Jesus in that he could say that he would “baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”?

9.  To what audience was the Evangelist, Luke, writing?

10. Why do you think that Jesus chose this time to enter his public ministry?