Sunday Reflections

There usually comes a time in one’s life when one asks “Who am I?”  Our response is dependent, greatly, upon not only what we have discovered, but what other people have told us about who we are.  In our gospel today, Jesus hears who He is.  The voice of the Father proclaims:  “This is my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”.  Indeed, he was the Son of God, and He came to fulfill the will of the Father.  Our First Reading, from the Prophet Isaiah, speaks so beautifully about how we are “endowed with His spirit” and “formed” us, to become who He has created us to be, and for a mission to fulfill.  However, today we not only celebrate the Baptism of the Lord, but it should be an occasion for us to reflect on our lives as baptized followers of Jesus.  At our Baptism I doubt that the heavens opened and those assembled heard:  “This is my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”.   But, we are that beloved child of God – no doubt about it – and God is pleased with us as we discover and do His will.  As we have been “endowed” and “formed” by God, we have the grace and gifts to live that Baptism authentically and (even) radically, showing my our words and actions who we are.  May these readings be an opportunity for us to renew and strengthen our Baptism life, in union with Jesus Christ.