Being Claimed as God’s Beloved
In today’s Gospel we end the Christmas season with The Baptism of the Lord. Jesus didn’t need to get baptized. He was sinless. So why did he choose to let John baptize him?
By doing so, Jesus identifies with those whom John was baptizing - sinners. It is a humble choice to be in solidarity with our humanity. And when Jesus arises out of the water, we see the mystery of the Triune God embodied. The heavens open and the Holy Spirit descends like a dove, God’s voice claims, “This is my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”, and Jesus receives his identity and mission as the beloved child of God. From this place of belovedness, Jesus’ public ministry begins. His mission flows from his identity in God.
For the past nine months my husband and I have been going through the foster and adoption licensing process. Our discernment came out of a deep desire of being loved by God and wanting to share that love through our family. In an attempt to expand our family in the initial years of marriage, infertility issues arose and broke our hearts in ways unimaginable. As we continued to pray with this mission that we both felt strongly called toward – to share the love we had been given with others - we discerned and applied to become parents to children in foster care. The process has been both beautiful and difficult with endless paperwork, tons of personal reflection, plenty of unknowns, and multiple house inspections. As we near the final approval, our hearts wait in eager anticipation for how our family will grow in the near future.
There are plenty of days when I question if I’m ready to love in this way as a parent to children in need, yet when I sit with God in prayer Jesus claims me, just like his Father claims him - you are my Beloved; with you I am well pleased. This gentle reminder of my prime identity in God’s love for me encourages me that I am not called to this mission alone. In the midst of all the learning, unknowns, worries, and excitement, Jesus invites me to claim my identity in God. From there, my mission and vocation are given new life. When I am open and still enough to sense God reminding me of my beloved nature, I allow myself greater space to rely more on God and less on my expectations of what I “should be”.
As we leave the Christmas season and enter this new year, remember the last time you sensed God claim you as God’s Beloved. How might you be invited to allow that love from God to flow into your everyday living?
Jaclyn Guerrero