God's Gift of Freedom and Protection

Today's Entrance Antiphon reminds each one of us that  "the Lord became [our] protector. He brought [us] out to a place of freedom; he saved [us] because he delighted in us."   We could rewrite that as a personal message, the Lord saying to each one of us:  "I  am YOUR protector. I bring YOU out to a place of freedom; I save YOU because I delight in YOU." We might recall the many times that the Lord has protected us from disasters on the highway, from serious illnesses that attacked others and took their lives, from job losses suffered by co-workers, from abusive marriages, from mental illnesses, from suicidal thoughts or actions, from making disastrous mistakes in choosing a partner in life. Or, we may think of the times that God brought us out to places "of freedom": out of serious depressions, out of thoughts of suicide or debilitating anxiety, out of disasters from which we thought we'd never recover.

On the other hand, we might simply ponder deeply the phrase "I delight in YOU." The God of the Universe delights in us.  The Creator of all humankind delights in you and me personally. The God who created the galaxies, the sun and the moon, the stars, the earth with its oceans and landscapes, its trees and wildlife, its seasons, night and day delights in you and me personally! God so delights in you and me that the Almighty, the Holy One, has taken up residence in each one of us! With His Presence, God anoints us as His Beloved. With His Presence God strengthens us, purifies us, makes us holy, sustains us and reconciles us to Himself when we fall into Satan's trap, as did Adam and Eve before us.  Our God is a God of relationships, drawing us into an intimate relationship with Himself and with one another, showing us the way of Love!

God be praised and glorified by our lives of love and unity!

Discernment of your mission and purpose in life

Discernment of your mission and purpose in life:  Today we celebrate the baptism of our Lord. The first reading of today’s liturgy, Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7,  presents the prophesy concerning Jesus’ mission. God says to us through the prophet Isaiah that Jesus is God’s “servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, …A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching….”  Jesus, Isaiah tells us,  is “a covenant of the people, a light for the nations.” He is “to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”

As you reflect upon Jesus’ mission, you will discover that your mission, through baptism, is the same, as is the way your creator feels toward you. As with Jesus, God says to you:  You are my “servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am please, upon whom I have put my spirit.”  To properly know your mission—the reason you are sent to earth and within which vocation you are to live out God’s purpose—you need to see yourself as “God’s servant,” as one in whom God is well pleased and upon whom God as put His spirit. Without that perspective, you are likely to lack the confidence to follow God’s direction for your life.  The task God may be calling you to accomplish and the vocation in which He wants you to do this,  may seem too difficult from a perspective that exclude’s God delight in you, God being pleased with you. 

Every day, bask in God’s delight of you, his pleasure in creating you and giving you an unique mission. Hear God say to you every day: You are be beloved daughter/son. In you I am well pleased. Hear God say to you as you consider the work you are about to undertake or the decision you are about to make: “Son/daughter, I am proud of you.”