BAPTISM OF THE LORD A
LAST FEAST?
MT 3: 13-17
MESSAGE
We are at the tail-end of the Christmas season again and are stepping into ordinary time. And yet the Church seems to think it is not too much to have another feast to celebrate. We just need one more, and it is the Baptism of the Lord.
Let us use this feast to reflect on the Christmas we just celebrated. What was its meaning for us? Was it simply to give people a year-end and year-start delight? Was it meant only to add color to the holidays with merriment, bonding, and memories to keep? Or did these past days bring us closer to Jesus, the center of our celebrations?
At Christmas we beheld a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, and in him we saw the face of God our Father. Now, at the feast of the Lord’s Baptism, it is the Father who beholds his Son, not as a baby snuggled in warm blankets, but as a mature man emerging from the cold river water. With admiration and affection, the Father gazes at Jesus his Son, identifying him not just as an ordinary mortal but truly like him, divine.
The Father invites us: Listen to him. Look at him. Do not take your eyes off him. Love him, for he is my Beloved. Love him as you love me. He and I are one. He is God and man, my Son.
REFLECT
In these days, take time to ponder how unique Jesus is. Reflect on how you see him and how you relate with him. He offers a lifelong relationship with you. Cherish your faith in him, whether it feels fragile or forceful. It is the same faith of the early Church, of the Scriptures, of Nicaea, and of the faithful people of our own time.
