The scene as Jesus enters into the Jordan river, the good news of Christmas is articulated not by angels, shepherds or wisemen... but the very voice of God. We read in the Gospel that the Father from Heaven can’t contain his excitement at the lavish gift he has given us. The Father speaks: “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). In that moment, the God of all creation “never tires of repeating [to humanity]: ‘Yes, I am here. I know you. I love you. There is a path that leads from me to you. And there is a path that rises from you to me’” (Pope Benedict XVI)
Yet for each of us Baptized, we know what we have received is something that can not be contained to a single day. This incredible gift from God: the treasure that it truly is, the depths of love contained in it, the generosity required to give it so freely to us... it takes even more than our collective lifetimes to begin to appreciate. Words fail us as we unpack what today’s “Christmas feast” that the words of the Father are spoken not just to Jesus, but to each one of us baptized into Christ, calling us His “beloved.”
~ Fr. Jim Chern