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TODAY’S WORD…

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“I have baptised you with water;

but He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”

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– Mark 1:8 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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What does John the Baptist mean when he says

that Jesus baptises with the Holy Spirit?

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In all of his work, Jesus is the one who baptises in the Holy Spirit.

inundating us,

completely covering us,

as water does to bodies that are immersed in it.

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Jesus baptises in the Holy Spirit

in the sense that He receives and gives the Spirit "without measure" (cf. Jn 3:34),

and He pours out His Spirit on all of redeemed humanity.

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Jesus baptises in the Holy Spirit,

carrying out the essential work of the Messiah,

which is oriented toward the regeneration of humanity

through a great and universal outpouring of the Spirit of God

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The risen Jesus baptises in the Spirit

not only in the sacrament of baptism,

but, in a different way also in other moments:

in the Eucharist,

in listening to the Word

and, in general, through all the channels of grace.

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"Come, O Creator Spirit!"

"Come, Holy Spirit!"

Those who pray this way have already, at sometime, received the Spirit.

The Spirit is something that we Christians have received

and that we must receive again and again.

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[from a sermon by Father Raniero Cantalamessa]