We have been chosen and anointed for life, as it is.
At the end of the Christmas season, we enter the coldest part of the year in much of Canada. This year, we enter it after a very different Christmas in quarantine. It is easy to become discouraged, or even angry with God
in seasons of suffering, loss, or isolation. But these beautiful readings on this wonderful feast of Jesus’ Baptism remind us He was called into the world to love and bless it as it was, and so are we. God does not call us to, or
commission us for, a perfect world that doesn’t exist, but for the perfectly imperfect world into which He has placed us. We are His beloved children, chosen for this time in history, called to build the Kingdom with Him
here and now. We have been baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to be conduits of God’s love for the world. So call a lonely friend. Make one more meal for the people who don’t always appreciate it. Go
back for another shift as an essential worker. Pray hard for someone suffering more than you. Every little act of love of the baptized is a participation in grace – even and especially in a world plagued by COVID.
Baptized Jesus, you were anointed to walk among us, beloved and chosen by the Father, and you have anointed and chosen us too. Remind us of the grace of our Baptism, and inspire us to love the world as it is, especially when the world is hurting. Amen.
Taken from the CCCB – Reflection
Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary
