Happy Feast

It was the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, 2011, the first year after my mother’s death, which is probably why I remember the date. I was at mass in my home parish in New Jersey. The homilist spoke of Isaiah’s bruised reed and smoldering wick: God’s love for each of us is so extravagant that God refuses to break the reed or quench the wick that might still have some life, some potential for love, some willingness to live as we are called. I thought of the great commissioning that we share with Jesus through our own baptism. The Spirit who “tears open” the heavens to descend upon Jesus yearns also to rush into our lives, to anoint us to do God’s work. Dare we believe this? If we do, we will surely be changed—a daunting prospect!

The preaching on that long-ago night was hopeful; it invited us deeper into life as God’s beloved sons and daughters. It called us to know that the words that God speaks to Jesus, “With you I am well pleased,” are words that God speaks to us, too.

But something beyond the power of the preaching happened for me that night. Indeed, it was something beyond the joy of the music, too, and beyond the beauty of the church, still adorned with evergreens and lights.

It was the meditation after the communion song that spoke to my soul. What words did that meditation speak? None!

It was a prolonged silence, punctuated by a cough or two, and a child who babbled. The silence continued for maybe four or five minutes. How fitting, I thought. We, the baptized, have been commissioned, but the next step is to be still. What better response can we make to God's invitation to share in the very mission of Jesus: that of knowing our belovedness, and then of preaching that love in word and deed? We are called to action, but first, we must be still.

So, sit for a minute (or 10 or 20!). Today, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord can easily be forgotten on this first “back to routine” Monday of 2018. Even if you can’t get to mass, sit for a while. Bless yourself with some holy water, if you can. Remember your own baptism. Remember that God is well pleased with you. Bask in that certainty. And then, give God’s love to someone else. Happy feast.