THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD – January 12, 2025

Please, check out the Hungarian section (link at the bottom) as well, as some Hungarian related news or information may be found only there.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM: The Lord will bless his people with peace.

TODAY’S MASS INTENTIONS:

9:00 AM: Parishioners of St. Emeric Parish

11:00 AM: Magda Szőcs & Gál Family, by the Szőcs Family

MASS SCHEDULE & INTENTIONS FOR THE COMING WEEK:

January 13 Monday 9:00 AM Celebrant’s Intention
January 14 Tuesday 9:00 AM András Karácsony, by the Karácsony Family
January 15 Wednesday 9:00 AM Frank Dobos, by Susanne Vizsolyi
January 16 Thursday 9:00 AM Imre Karetka, by Mária Karetka
January 17 Friday 9:00 AM Benefactors of St. Emeric Parish
January 18 Saturday 5:00 PM Ferenc & Anna Nemeth, by the Family
January 19 Sunday 9:00 AM Parishioners of St. Emeric Parish
January 19 Sunday 11:00 AM Aladár Fricke, by John & Jean Fox

FROM THE DESK OF FR. BONA: As we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, a question naturally arises, “Why was Jesus baptized?” After all, He is the sinless, divine Son of God, and the baptism that John the Baptist administered was “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4).

A simple answer is that he did it out of humility. Even though He was sinless, He wanted to be seen by others as a sinner. I imagine that on the banks of the river there very well could have been some who did not get baptized by John and were only standing there and commenting on (ridiculing) those who did enter the Jordan. In this case, out of love for us, Jesus could have purposefully accepted this ridicule.

However, we can also discern a deeper, theological reasoning. In antiquity water conjured up two distinct images: death and life. On the one hand, immersion into the waters is a symbol of death, which recalls the death symbolism of the annihilating, destructive power of the ocean flood. However, the flowing waters of the river are above all a symbol of life. In the physical act of baptism, especially baptism by immersion, we can see the descent into the waters as a form of death and burial, and the rising out of the waters as rising to a new life (resurrection).

In this light, we see how the events of Christ’s baptism foreshadow His Passion and Resurrection. Jesus willingly assumes the fate of the sinners, He takes upon His shoulders the burden of all mankind’s guilt and by descending into the waters He accepts death as the punishment for the sins of humanity. In the voice that calls out “This is my beloved Son” over the baptismal waters, we see an anticipatory reference to the Resurrection. This also explains why, in his own discourses, Jesus uses the word “baptism” to refer to his death. The Eastern traditions of iconography pick up on many of these themes. The icon of Jesus’ baptism depicts the water as a liquid tomb having the form of a dark cavern, which is in turn the iconographic sign of Hades, the underworld, or hell.

Finally, in the baptism, Jesus is also revealed as a new and greater Moses, who leads his people to true freedom through the waters (source: catholic.com; modified).

FROM AM 1260 THE ROCK: Please join AM 1260 The Rock as we broadcast the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland’s Annual Mass for Life, live from the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Friday, January 17th at 10:00 AM. Listen via radio, through our website (am1260therock.com), or on our mobile app. Your prayers for LIFE are needed now more than ever for the most vulnerable in our society, the unborn! God Bless You!

TRADITIONAL HUNGARIAN DOUGHNUTS: The Ladies of the St. Emeric Altar Guild are baking Hungarian style doughnuts. They are $18 a dozen and must be ordered by January 15, 2025, by calling one of the ladies: Marika Zsula 216-676-5863 or Maria Meszaros 440-331-0391. Pick up: January 19, Sunday, before or after the 11:00 AM Mass or the day before, Saturday between 4 and 5 PM. Thank you for supporting St. Emeric Church!

NEXT SUNDAY after 11AM Mass we will serve doughnut breakfast (2 doughnuts and coffee) for $5. Please come and join us for this social.

PLEASE, PICK UP YOUR 2025 YEAR DONATION ENVELOPES IN THE ST. STEPHEN ROOM. Thank you for your generosity in supporting the parish throughout the year. If there are any address changes, please notify us.

LAST WEEKEND & HOLY DAY COLLECTIONS: HOLY FAMILY (additional): $255; JANUARY 1: $1,065. JANUARY 5: Sunday Collection: $2,970; Christmas Flowers: $20. May God reward your generosity in supporting the church. Thank you for sending in your donations by mail or using our website https://stemeric.com/donations/.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK, especially for Bev Kimar, Teréz Kalász, Lajos Boday, Márta Takács, Kathy Szabó, Alex Szaday, Virginia Kachmar, Margaret Falk, Mária Hokky, and Balázs Bedy.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE DECEASED: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen

THIS SUNDAY the 11:00 AM Mass from St. Emeric church will be livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/saintemeric/ and https://stemeric.com/

LET US PRAY THREE HAIL MARYS FOR OUR PARISH EVERY DAY!

Ez a bejegyzés olvasható Hungarian nyelven is.

No comments yet.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Designed and Maintained by Zsolt Molnar