Readings for January 12th:
- Isaiah 40:1–5, 9–11 or Isaiah 42:1–4, 6–7
- Psalm 28(29):1-4,9-10 or Psalm 104:1b–2, 3–4, 24–25, 27–28, 29–30
- Acts 10:34–38 or Titus 2:11–14; 3:4–7
- Luke 3:15–16, 21–22
What stands out to me from this week’s readings:
The feast we celebrate today commemorates a turning point. Today is the last day of the liturgical Christmas season. It’s the end of the beginning.
In today’s gospel passage, we see that Jesus has grown into a man. And yet the message of today’s readings is still the message of Christmas. That message is that God is with us. One of the ways God is with us is by being one of us.
In all the gospel passages associated with Christmas, including today’s, most people don’t understand who Jesus is until God reveals the identity of the only begotten Son in unusual ways. These unusual ways include an announcement from an angel, the radiance of a star, and, in the case of today’s story, a disembodied voice.
But the heavens don’t open, and that voice doesn’t speak until Jesus places himself among sinners — this time in a more conscious and open way than ever before. He’s no longer the infant visited by shepherds and astrologers. His ministry is no longer that of a carpenter in a single village. He’s a man now, free to go where He will without making his mother worry that she’s let God down.
Where He goes is to John. He goes to John to model repentance. He models of the death of the old self and the birth of a new one. His coming to John for baptism foreshadows His death and Resurrection that made ours possible. As part of His baptism, He allows Himself to be submerged in the Jordan River. He then lets the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, come to rest on Him. He offers himself to unite the natural world with God. He teaches that all of this world points to God. It points to God for those who are willing and able to follow where it leads.
All the options for this week’s readings do the same. They point to God being in our midst everywhere, at all times if we know how to look.
This week’s prayer:
Lord, help us. You call all people your beloved children. Guide us to treat ourselves and others the way You call us to. Amen.
Sitting with the Sacred 