Transcript
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In today’s Gospel, the baptism of Jesus, we hear powerfully the beautiful words in the first reading how he gathers the lambs in his arms and holds them close to his breast. Then we hear John speaking very clearly about this is the one who will baptise you with water, and the Holy Spirit with fire. The Lord shows us today that He Himself knelt down before John the Baptist in humility to be baptised to show that He needed to follow the path of righteousness to have the proper Coram Deo, the deep, proper relationship in the heart with God. As He began His public ministry, He showed us the way to the Father which is the way of tenderness. And what is tenderness? It’s what Pope Francis refers to when he talks about in his early years of ministry as our Pope, that the Church needs a revolution, and the revolution is a revolution of tenderness. The Lord is a God of love and sensitivity tenderness is that ability to not only be sensitive to pain in me, but sensitive to pain more often in others. To be gentle, to be kind, to gather people, to bring them close to you. This is what the power of baptism does for all of us, it deepens our relationship, Coram Deo, with God the Father, the relationship of deep tenderness and love. Let us go out this week and do what we can to minister to the Lord in others especially those who are in pain to be sensitive to their pain and to show by gathering through the power of the spirit that’s within us the presence of God for when we are baptised the Father, the Son, and the Spirit make our home in us as we make our home in them. As Teresa of Ávila would say, when Jesus spoke these words to her, I have no body now on this earth Teresa, but yours. No hands, no feet, no eyes, no ears, but yours. This is the God of tenderness and love. Let us use our bodies, our souls, our minds, to express the tender love of God for everyone.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.