Friday, January 9, 2009

Today’s text

Mark 1:4-11

John the Baptist was in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as they were baptized by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. In the course of his preaching he said, 'After me is coming someone who is more powerful than me, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.' It was at this time that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. And at once, as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved; my favor rests on you.'

Reflection

‘You are mine,’ truly a voice from heaven, revealing our secret need, and Jesus great knowledge.

I know the words are not first spoken to me, Loving Mystery. You speak them to Jesus, and from this moment his life flows like a stream. Not everything he does works, not everyone accepts or even understands him, and the powerful will destroy him.

But he goes his way with that knowledge that enlarges the soul and makes it great: He is treasured, wanted, assured that he belongs to you, who are Love mysterious and unfailing. Nothing that happens later can change this, no disappointment, no suffering, no failure, nothing.

This assurance is the source of his soul, the fountain of grace at the core of Jesus life, flowing outward to all, to me.

I am carried in a river called beloved, through the land of grace, beneath skies that resonate with the voice that assures, ‘You are mine.’

A voice from heaven. May I hear you today. Everyday.

Pr. David L. Miller