+WHO WILL BAPTISE WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 18 Jan. 2026
When John the Baptist tells us that the one who sent him to baptize with water, told him: “On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit,” he is not only telling us who Jesus is but what he is doing in our midst. Jesus has come not only as the Son of God but as one who transforms our lives through the gift of the Holy Spirit. As we monks begin our week of retreat today, I would like to ask the prayer of all our guests that we may be open to this gift of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives and as a community.
John saw the Holy Spirit come down upon Jesus and remain with him. In doing so the Holy Spirit revealed Christ’s full identity as the Son of God. Can any of us really begin to grasp what this means for our humanity, to have God born in our midst with all our human nature and weaknesses. In taking on our humanity, Jesus desires nothing so much as to make us sharers in His divinity and thus goes about baptizing us in the Holy Spirit.
Each of us is to say with the psalmist: “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.” Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, takes on our humanity so that we may be elevated to where we participate in His own divine life, become the very children of God as his Holy Spirit is allowed to enter into all that we think, say and do throughout the day. This is an almost unbelievable potential in each of our lives and I am convinced; there is a great restlessness when we fall short or fail to actualize this deep longing and wonderful capacity in each of us.
And this realization of our potential happens in the most ordinary of circumstances. I have been given the privilege of working in our infirmary and what I am coming to realize, more and more, is how the simplest of tasks is what can be the most pleasing thing in God’s sight, if I do it lovingly and with a heartfelt sincerity and not just out of routine or because I was asked to do it.
One of our brothers recently had a very serious fall that fractured his hip. Helping him into a wheelchair or just helping him with his pajamas out of a loving care, I’m seeing as precious in God’s sight. And how true this is for all of us here, as we go about each our own duties and daily responsibilities. Doing them out of real love is what makes us truly Christian, truly pleasing in God’s sight, though in the thoughts and evaluation of others around us, what we do may seem insignificant or a waste if time. What is precious in God’s sight is often counted as insignificant or worthless in eyes of the world.
This is to live in the grace St Paul spoke of to the Corinthians as we just heard: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” And isn’t this the grace in God’s call to the prophet Isaiah in our first reading: “You are my servant, Israel, through whom I show my glory.” This is the glory of God to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit so that God’s life becomes manifest in all the circumstances of our lives no matter how humbling they may seem to be.
If we allow ourselves to be attentive to what motivates us, to why we are doing this or that, then everything can become the means of revealing the glory of God in our lives. The smallest of gestures may become transformative of human life, so easily caught up in self-interests. This inner transformation is what is most capable of changing not only our own lives but the lives of all around us.
The Holy Spirit who is called down upon our gifts of bread and wine this morning, transforms them into the Body and Blood of the Son of God. What happens to the bread and wine is to happen in each one of our lives as we allow the love of God to penetrate all our thoughts, words and deeds each day. We then become with Christ a vital nourishment in our world of today.
Isa 49:3, 5-6; 1 Cor 1:1-3; John 1:29-34