1st Luminous Mystery: The Baptism of The Lord

By: Ivonne Hernandez

St Peter Julian Eymard's Words:
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”In the Eucharist we find a remedy for our ills, and a payment for the fresh debts we contract daily towards Divine justice through our sins. Our Lord offers Himself up every morning as a Victim of propitiation for all the sins of the world.” [1]

"Propitiation consists in making amends to our Lord and in consoling Him. That is what our mission as adorers largely consists in. We ought to make reparation; we ought to be mediators and penitents for the sins of men. The world is so wicked that there is almost greater need of reparation than of thanksgiving. John made reparation when he said: ‘Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him Who takes away the sin of the world.’ He preached and showed the atoning Victim. He wept and sorrowed over the indifference of men toward the Savior. Listen to his complaint: ‘There has stood One in the midst of you, Whom you know not.’“ [2]


​MEDITATION:

The mystery of the Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan speaks to us of reparation. The beloved Son of the Father opened up the fountain of Baptism for us by His death on the Cross. “Behold, the Lamb of God, behold Him Who takes away the sin of the world.” These words from John the Baptist are repeated at every Mass as the priest elevates the Eucharist. “Christ’s sacrifice present on the altar makes it possible for all generations of Christians to be united with his offering.” [3] Let us then offer Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament our adoration in reparation for our sins and those of the whole world.

“The world is so wicked there is almost greater need of reparation than of thanksgiving”. These words from St Peter Julian remind us that we can and must unite our offerings to those of Christ. “The law entered in so that transgression might increase but, where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more.” (Rom 5:20) When we unite our lives to the sacrifice of Christ, our works, prayers, suffering and praise take on new value. They are now, infinite in the power of God, the vehicle of that grace that will overflow where sin abounds. Evil and darkness are but the absence of good and light. God has placed each of us in our lives at precisely the time and place He needs us, so we can bring His light to the places that are still in darkness. By uniting every aspect of our lives with the Eucharist, we fulfill our priestly duties, received through Baptism, to sanctify the world and offer sacrifice to God.
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We are all sinners, and in the Eucharist, “we find a remedy for our ills, and a payment for the fresh debts we contract daily towards Divine justice through our sins.” By acknowledging our sinfulness and repenting we are able to receive forgiveness, but after our sins are forgiven, justice still demands reparation. The Catechism tells us that “the expiation of sins continues in the mystical body of Christ and the communion of saints by joining our human acts of atonement to the redemptive action of Christ, both in this life and in Purgatory.” Let us then adore and console our Lord in the Eucharist, the One the world does not know. Let us unite our voices to John the Baptist and say Behold!


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When you meditate on the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, think of your whole life, united in the Eucharist, as an offering to God. Listen as the Father says to you: "This is my beloved son/daughter in whom I am well pleased."

[1] Eymard, The Real Presence, p. 147
[2] Eymard, The Real Presence, p. 287
[3] (CCC, 1368)