The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
This is the time of year when I generally feel the pressure to do more – or more accurately, to be more. The pull of self-improvement culture is strong, promising me happiness if only I were a bit more of this and a bit less of that. “New year, new me. Bigger, better, faster, stronger. Become your ‘best self’.” Whatever catchphrase it is packaged in, the message is the same – the current version of you is not enough. But the message God sends us in today’s Gospel is the exact opposite.
In today’s reading, we see Jesus at the very start of his ministry. He had not yet walked on water, healed the sick, raised the dead, or performed the other miraculous events in his ministry. As a 30-year-old unmarried and unknown carpenter from backwoods Nazareth, Jesus was likely not the definition of “success” by ancient Israel’s standards. And with no achievements, status, or power, he seems to be the opposite of our current society’s view of success as well.
Yet this is the moment when God the Father chose to reveal his love for the Son. Rather than the miraculous feats later in his ministry, it is Christ’s obedience to the will of the Father that elicits the proclamation “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”. Reading this, I just want to soak in these words – My beloved…with you I am well pleased. Aren’t these the words we long to hear when the rest of the world tells us we’re not enough?
The good news is that these words are already ours by virtue of our baptism. The Catechism states, “Baptism is God’s most beautiful and magnificent gift…It is called a gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own” (CCC 1216). Friends, there is no prerequisite to embracing our identity as God’s beloved children. Moreover, this identity is unshakeable by earthly circumstances. Whether we are healthy or sick, thriving or struggling, celebrating or grieving, our identity remains unchanged. Indeed, the Father is well pleased with you for the simple reason that you are his beloved, “freed from sin and reborn as sons of God” through baptism (CCC 1213).
And so this year, when I feel the pressure to continually strive toward that elusive “best self” image, I’m coming back to this reading and my own baptismal promises. Because when the world says we need to be more, God reminds us we belong to him, and that is more than enough.
Kassie Manning, Ph.D. is the Operations Director and co-founder of Every Sacred Sunday. When not thinking about books, she can be found around Texas climbing tall rocks, searching for lost chapstick, or making pros/cons lists about camper trailers. Come say hi here!