Not Good Enough

Baptism Of Our Lord
09 January 2011




Come, let us worship Christ, whose bride is the Church.

First reading Isaiah 42:1-4,6-7
Thus says the Lord:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom my soul delights.
I have endowed him with my spirit
that he may bring true justice to the nations.
He does not cry out or shout aloud,
or make his voice heard in the streets.
He does not break the crushed reed,
nor quench the wavering flame.
Faithfully he brings true justice;
he will neither waver, nor be crushed
until true justice is established on earth,
for the islands are awaiting his law.
I, the Lord, have called you to serve the cause of right;
I have taken you by the hand and formed you;
I have appointed you as covenant of the people and light of the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to free captives from prison,
and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.

Psalm 28:1-4,9-10

Second reading Acts 10:34-38
Peter addressed Cornelius and his household: ‘The truth I have now come to realise’ he said ‘is that God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.

‘It is true, God sent his word to the people of Israel, and it was to them that the good news of peace was brought by Jesus Christ – but Jesus Christ is Lord of all men. You must have heard about the recent happenings in Judaea; about Jesus of Nazareth and how he began in Galilee, after John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil.’

Gospel Matthew 3:13-17
Jesus appeared: he came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. John tried to dissuade him. ‘It is I who need baptism from you’ he said ‘and yet you come to me!’ But Jesus replied, ‘Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that righteousness demands.’ At this, John gave in to him.

As soon as Jesus was baptised he came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice spoke from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.’


Reflection
By Anabelle Balla

My daughters, Cereza and Cristine, would always worry about upcoming swimming competitions. Despite our assurance as parents and their coach’s confidence in their abilities, they still think that they are not good enough to compete with other swimmers. But with consistent practice and God’s grace, both of them always bring home medals from the competitions.

Likewise, John iwho dedicated his life to prepare the way of Jesus believed that he is not good enough even to untie Jesus’ sandals. And yet Jesus commended John when He told His disciples in Matthew 11:11, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.”

This feeling of smallness, of not being worthy, I think is coming from the awareness and acceptance that someone is truly greater or better than who you are. We can call this humility. It is humility that can help us to submit ourselves wholeheartedly and worship the Greatest Son and the Greatest Father of all. With humility, we will be driven to do our best, to give our best in order to be worthy of God’s love and generosity. And as we try to do our best, we improve ourselves in the process and become truly worthy.

Jesus is the best model of humility when He submitted Himself to His Father’s will. And at His baptism, the Father showed His delight on Him with this verse from Matthew 3: 22 ..”You are my own dear Son and I am pleased with you. “

Father, we know that we are not yet good enough to be called Your children. We pray that You look into the humility of our hearts and not the many shortcomings we have. Please be with us as we try to do and offer You our best. In Jesus' name with the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.

Humility drives us to do our best in order to be worthy. Let us humbly strive to become better in the eyes of God so He will also delight in us!





Next week on God-speak
Humus