Christine Curran
Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him,
“Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”
Then he consented.
And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said,
“This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Understanding Our Vocations
Left with only a few second and third hand accounts of Jesus' life written years after his death, what can we say we really know of his life? When reading today's scripture, I remember my seminary professor telling us that of all the events recorded in the Gospels, most historians can agree on at least one thing: that a man named Jesus was indeed baptized by a man named John in early first century Galilee. The fact that the Savior, the Son of God, began his ministry by being baptized by a local preacher was in fact an embarrassment that needed to be explained. Every evangelist mentions the baptism, and attempts to explain away the seeming contradiction (“allow it for now…”), is in itself strong support for the fact that it occurred.
It is the humanness of this event that captures my attention and my heart in prayer. Jesus' baptism is a comforting reminder that Jesus was truly human and walked among us. His vocation does not seem to have been a magical gift he knew from infancy, but rather a growing insight and awareness. Perhaps he discovered his God-given gifts and life's path as many of us do: through a gradual process of coming to know himself through prayer and in relationships with his family and community. In the midst of our impatience to figure out who we are and where we're going on our life's journey, today we remember we are in good company.
We must have patience with the ways God reveals his gifts and plan to us…. over time? We can be truly thankful for the insights and direction we may have already received?
Source: Daily inspiration from Jesuit Prayer: By Christine Curran the executive director of the Ignatian Spirituality Project, a Jesuit ministry.
Thomas Merton's Prayer...
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"