“This is my beloved Son”

This Sunday's feast, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, serves as the end of the Church's official Christmas season and the beginning of the season of Ordinary Time. It also serves as a great reminder to us of what happens in our baptism: that we become Children of God and members of the Church!

In the Gospel story of Jesus' Baptism, taken this year from the Gospel of Matthew's account, there is always some moment when the heavens are torn open and we hear the Father's voice saying something along the lines of, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." And while Jesus had no need to be baptized, because he was without sin and is also the source of all grace that comes to us through the sacraments, the Church says he did so, as with everything else in his life, in order to show us the way to the Father.

And so, the Church teaches us that when we are baptized, though we may not hear it, the Father also speaks those same words to us: "This is my beloved son" or "this is my beloved daughter." By the grace of this sacrament we become Children of God, coheirs with Christ to the Kingdom, members of God's holy people (the Church), Temples of the Holy Spirit, and enter into the beginnings of eternal life with God.

As we begin 2026, let us pray that this amazing reality may enliven our hearts anew! We are God's children and destined to spend eternity together with him! May the joy that comes from this, and the love that is commanded of us as members of God's family, spur us forth to love and serve our neighbor and proclaim with word and deed that the life of a Christian is one that is worth living!

Want to prepare your heart and mind for Mass this weekend? Click here to find the readings this Sunday's Mass.