The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
I often struggle with feeling like an imposter. I desire holiness, yet I am perpetually overwhelmed by the reality and weight of my sin. I nit-pick my thoughts and actions, constantly trying to be good enough.
Today’s Gospel resonates with me: Jesus, in His humility, chose to align Himself with us. I feel John the Baptist’s incredulity when Jesus comes to be baptized. John the Baptist asks, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?”
This question is mirrored in my own life. Despite my sinful nature, I desire to dwell in Jesus, yet when I receive Him in the Eucharist, He chooses to dwell in me. Christ, in his infinite goodness and humility, chooses to make a home in all of us.
One of my favorite G.K. Chesterton quotes comes to mind when I reflect on this truth: “There is the great lesson of Beauty and the Beast, that a thing must be loved before it is lovable.”
The beast of our sinfulness is transformed when it encounters the beauty of His Love. If we allow the Lord to love us as He desires to, we will find ourselves transformed. Christ sees us as we really are: brokenness and all, yet we are lovable because of His love.
When Jesus emerges from the water, the Father proclaims, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.” When he speaks this over Christ, he is saying it for all of us. This is what we are meant to be. We are called to simply immerse ourselves in the Father’s Love and let it transform us.