January 12th : Baptism of the Lord - Identity & Mission

First Reading       : Isaiah 42:1-9 
Psalm                    : Psalm 29 
Second Reading : Acts 10:34-43 
Gospel                  : Matthew 3:13-17 

 

Today, we celebrate the feast of Jesus’ baptism by John. His baptism marks the start of a new world, a new creation. As Isaiah prophesied, the Spirit descends upon Jesus like a dove - as the Spirit hovered over the face of the deep in the beginning (see Genesis 1:2). It was a special experience in the life of Jesus and so made a lasting impact on His life. His Baptism experience made clearer to Him that He is indeed God’s Son (divine identity: “This is my beloved son”) and that He was born with a special mission to fulfill (divine Mission of salvation).  So today, let us see Jesus’ baptism as his new beginning for us and reawaken to our sonship in the Son (we are God's children) and the mission which God has entrusted to each and every one of us, that our Father might call us what he calls His Son - “my beloved. . . in whom I am well pleased.”