Last week we offered ourselves along with the Magi’s gifts to the king of all nations. On Monday we celebrated the Lord’s baptism by John in the river Jordan so that we all could recognize and accept him as the one upon whom God’s favor rests. This Sunday Christ’s public ministry starts with the calling of the first disciples.
It might be a good moment, as we start our year focused on Stewardship, to reflect upon our own baptismal vocations and call to discipleship. By virtue of our baptisms we are all given the gift of sharing in Christ’s royal heritage, His Holiness and His prophetic message of God’s eternal merciful compassion and love. As Jesus’s disciples we must not just share these three gifts of baptismal promise but actually be them for others.
We must be Kingdom people who live according to the reign of God, we must be devout people who turn to, pray to and worship the God of all tenderness and love by being loving and compassionate ourselves especially to those who challenge us or hold differing opinions to us, and we must stand up for what we know to be right through our words and actions.
So a rule of thumb to know if we are being good disciples could be, “Am I true to my favored status in life as a member of God’s family; am I a person of prayer that overflows into action; do I proclaim this faith as that comforting yet challenging path to be a person who is truly and fully human and alive in the Spirit so that others may be drawn to God as Father, Jesus as Savior and the Holy Spirit as their sanctifier?
Let us focus this coming week on our faithfulness as baptized disciples so that we can reaffirm our commitment to our faith and then take on the stewardship of this favored status in God’s eyes so that his reign might become more and more a reality not only in our own lives but also in the lives of those we meet, love, encourage and pray for… and our enemies too!
May God bless you, your families, and the week ahead,
Fr Aidan Peter