The Gospel of the Mass of January 11, 2026
Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew*
Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord – Year A
Then Jesus appears. He had come from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John wanted to stop him and said: “It is I who need to be baptized by you, and it is you who come to me! » But Jesus answered him: “Let it be for the moment, for it is fitting that we thus fulfill all righteousness. » So Jean lets him do it.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened: he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I find joy.” »
* Chapter 3, verses 13 to 17.
Other readings: book of the prophet Isaiah (chapter 42, verses 1 to 4 and 6 to 7); Psalm 28 (29); book of Acts of the Apostles (chapter 10, verses 34 to 38).
Baptism in the heart
Sandra Aroulanda, school teacher, parishioner in La Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis)
What if we contemplated the Gospel? “Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan with John”: look at John and Jesus, these two men facing each other.
Contemplate the way that God chooses to manifest himself to us, even though nothing distinguishes the man Jesus from all the others who, like him, ask for baptism. “It is I who need to be baptized”: hear John’s resistance. It’s also ours.
Enter John’s astonishment. “As soon as Jesus was baptized…”: observe the different movements, ascending and descending. Jesus comes up from the water, then the sky opens to unite heaven and earth, above and below, before a double descent from the heavens, by the Holy Spirit and by a voice. Let the day of your baptism, of your confirmation, come back to you. In your prayer, speak to God: “I am your son, your daughter. » Thus, to contemplate the baptism of Jesus is to recognize that God acts in our own life.
This action is that of the Holy Spirit, God himself acting even in the depths of being, the depths of the heart, the depths of what makes us a child of God.
