Today’s feast closes the cycle of Christmas. Jesus has grown up and he leaves his village. He leaves his family and moves on with his life in a new direction. First of all, he goes to the desert. There he meets John the Baptist. He decides to be baptised. John’s baptism meant a real change of life. The one who was baptised was not forced to join any group, he did not become a disciple of John. But he committed himself to turn his heart to the Lord, to be converted, to change his life in order to be prepared for the coming of the Messiah, the one sent by God. To be baptised was to open one’s heart to God’s presence.
Jesus left his people and had himself baptised by John. There in the desert he meditated, no doubt, on the Word of God. It is possible that he encountered this same prophetic text that we read in this Sunday’s first reading. And he would feel totally identified with what is said in that text. That would be his way of life. Without shouting, without destroying anyone, respecting everyone, but firmly proclaiming the law of God, the right of the children of God. His word would be a light for the nations, a liberating word for the oppressed and a healing word for the sick.
Jesus felt called by God for a mission. Not only that. He experienced and deeply felt that God was his Father. From then on, that profound experience never left him. It gave him the strength to fulfill his mission until the final surrender on the cross. In the text from the Acts of the Apostles we have in the second reading: “He went about doing good and healing those who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him”. What more could be said about Jesus?
The first reading is also a whole programme of life if we want to be consistent with our baptism. And the best thing that could be said about us at the end of our life is that we spent our life doing good to everyone because God was with us. What else are the saints? And all because we feel that we are God’s children. We have no other owner but the one who wants our freedom and our happiness, the one who wants us to be children and brothers and sisters to each other.
For your reflection
What does the Baptism I received so many years ago mean to me? Do I really feel like a child of God and a member of the community of brothers and sisters that all men and women form? How do I live my life, being a child of God and a brother or sister to one another?
Father Fernando Torres CMF
www.ciudadredonda.org
Translated by Father Alberto Rossa CMF
