Baptism of the Lord

God continues to amaze us. At Christmas he comes to us as a Child. He is born in a stable to show how close he is to man. Today, on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, he amazes us once again. He becomes one of the crowd to be baptised by John. God constantly surprises us, makes himself known again and again from a new angle.                                                                           And what is it like in my life? Can I understand Him, notice Him, hear Him?                               We tend to add sparkle to the festivities, we are colouring history, colouring reality. I think by doing so, we are making their meaning shallow.

I was surprised by one person’s story. Well, this person, told me what she associates Christmas with. Well, for her, her childhood memory is the image of the drunken father she saw coming home. This is what her Christmas often looked like.                                                                    God does not come to us only in moments of euphoria. God is with us not only in moments of joy.   God laughs with us when we laugh, and weeps with us when we weep too.                           The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord invites us to discover once again how God is close to our lives. God, by becoming human, enters our lives. He enters our lives as it is, without any embellishment. How important it is to hear that He, God, is next door, that I am His beloved child.   In the sacrament of baptism we invite God into our lives. He is born every day for us. And although today in the liturgy we are coming to the end of the Christmas season, it is worth remembering that God is born for us every day.

“….you come to me!”– John asked Jesus.

Let the wonder of St John the Baptist at his encounter with Jesus be an invitation for us to marvel at the God who comes to us in our own lives. He keeps coming – keep your eyes and heart open.