Welcoming the Holy
Here we invite you to take time for yourself in personal prayer. The following spiritual reflection offers words and images which we hope will evoke for you an experience of God.
By: Sister Joan Sobala
“Here is my chosen one with whom I am well pleased.” Isaiah 42.1
Opening Prayer
Tender God, Father of Jesus, Your voice was heard as Jesus came up from the water, after being baptized by John. You delighted in Jesus. Help me to do likewise, to delight in Him who is our Savior. I can’t know the depth of Him, but I want to know our beloved Savior more deeply. Help me to do so. Amen.
Reflection
The buzz along the Jordan River’s travelers was that John the Baptist was the messiah. John knew better. He waited, and in the crowd that moved forward to receive John’s baptism of repentance, Jesus waited his turn. Then it was Jesus’ turn. He and John looked at each. They took each other’s measure, and as they did, John knew Jesus for who He was. John baptized Jesus, and when the Lord came up from the water, the voice, using the same words God spoke in Isaiah, “You are my beloved Son: with you I am well pleased.”
Who heard the voice, warm with love and appreciation? Jesus? John? The others present? Was it enough that Jesus heard it?
And here’s a thought to mull over. When you close your eyes and imagine Jesus coming up out of the Jordan, do you hear God’s voice honoring Jesus so tenderly? Do you? Do I? Because, if we do, then following Jesus in word and deed is the very best response we can make to what we hear. We are called to believe that it is true that Jesus is the beloved of God and in some small way, our beloved, too.
Closing Prayer
Holy and Tender Father of Jesus, as we move through this fresh new year, may we be ready to grow into being Your children in name and in truth. May we seek Your Son’s presence in all we are and do. May we return to the water of our own Baptism in Christ, that we might be nourished, washed, readied for life to the full. Amen.
