You are God’s beloved child

You are my Son, the Beloved;*

    with you I am well pleased.

Who are you? I am a beloved child of God – and so are you!

You are God’s beloved child.

Jesus after being baptized came out of the water and

heard the words

You are my Son, the Beloved: with you I am well pleased.

I wonder what the others heard but

I know what Jesus said to them.

He turned and said the words he dedicated his life to proving:

You are God’s beloved child.

We know he said this without benefit of videotaping or recording equipment –

Because of them he went on to live his life and in every action he took:

Proclaiming God’s kingdom 
of reconciliation, forgiveness, justice and peace;

Healing the sick, raising the dead,

Standing up for the truth at the cost of his own life – 

He said to the world, that

your life is precious in the sight of God. 

You are no accident –

And he has chosen you, holds you in his heart

God has yes, broken you,

Like Bread at the Eucharist,

As Bread for the World, 

Parted out and shared

That all may find life in the abundance of your giving,
like Jesus in his gifts of his self-offering abundance and

overflowing life and love.

God has taken, blessed …

Blessed you, given you hope, 
filled you with good things, 
not least the joy of life.

We look around us and see poverty or blessing, scarcity or abundance.

But God keeps filling our cup of blessing,

Offering us the warmth of his love,

The sustenance of his grace,

The comfort of his kindness,

The joy of his mercy, and

The fellowship of his Son, taken, blessed, broken, …

We are given as well, to the world,

We are distributed as instruments of his peace,

As manifestations of his peace,

As harbingers of his kingdom.

We come to the font and to the table,

Knowing we are imperfect, oh so imperfect beings.

We are taken – chosen,

blessed,

broken,

shared out – given,

for the life of the world depends on us,

Not in a bad way, not in a status way to make us special,

any more special than anyone else.

We are special as all are special and God has always loved you best.

 ***

When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:15b-17)

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. (1 John 3:1)

You are born into God’s family (in baptism),

Heirs of heaven’s life and joy: wake up and celebrate!

 

The Feast of the Baptism of our Lord - Year C 

Isaiah 43:1-7;  Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22.

Robert Fuller, Homilies from the Heart, Year C (Tucson).

Henri J. M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World (New York: Crossroad, 1983).