Readings
I - Is. 40: 1-5, 9-11
II - Titus. 2: 11-14; 3: 4-7
III - Lk. 3: 15-16, 21-22
BAPTISM OF THE LORD (Feast)
Today the Church celebrates the feast the Baptism of the Lord, the initiation of Jesus into the great mission he had come to accomplish. As John the Baptist was clarifying the doubts of the people saying that Messiah is mightier than him that he was worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. Jesus would have probably heard this, still made no big show of it but humbled himself at the hand of the Baptiser to be baptised like one among those around. As he was praying, a voice came from heaven saying, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”. The concern of Jesus was to accomplish the will of the Father. The fulfillment of the Prophesy of Isaiah, the promises of God, is to be accomplished in Jesus. From Jerusalem till Calvary, Jesus was ardent in carrying out the will of His Father. In Jerusalem, to his anxious parents he responded saying: “Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s work?” (Lk. 2:49). At the Garden of Olives, he prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Mt. 26: 39). And finally, on the cross he said, “It is finished” (Jn. 19: 30) and commended His Spirit to the Father saying, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Lk. 23: 46). In all his praying, preaching, teaching, healing, curing, forgiving, befriending and raising Jesus sought the will of His Father and its evident from his response to the disciples, “My food is to do the will of my father” (Jn. 4:16). In short, the life Jesus and the will of his Father was one and the same, this is why the Father says, “beloved Son” will whom He is well pleased.
Wanna become the beloved of God? Do everything according to the will of the Father in heaven. Seek Him in prayer and He will certainly enlighten us on what He expects of us to say and do. Make prayer a way of life, not merely a monologue but let God to speak and be disposed to listen. This is the only way that our Lord has left us to become the beloved of God here on the earth and in the life eternal, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Mt. 7: 21). Let our mind and heart resonate with the prayer: “Father teach me to listen, discern and accomplish your will in my daily life”.
