Baptism Of The Lord
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: January 12, 2025
A new movie about Bob Dylan just came out. I have not seen it, but it did cause me to listen to some of his music. One song struck me, called, “With God On Our Side.” He is reflecting on American history and how they were taught, that God was on their side. In each war that came they were glad to fight, for God was on their side. “For you don't count the dead when God's on your side.” At the American Civil War both sides were ready to fight, with God on their side.
Throughout this history, people were ready to hate the other side, to go to war, for God was on their side. Then he sings, “And you never ask questions when God's on your side.” It is this mentality of having God on our side that divides countries, political groups, religions and so on. With God on our side, we are special, even our hatreds and prejudices are justified. We deserve special treatment.
At the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, I wonder about how Jesus saw himself. Did he see himself as having God on his side and what did that mean. After his baptism, while in prayer, he has an experience in which he hears, a voice from heaven say to him, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
In what sense did Jesus see himself as special, as having God on his side? Did that sense of being chosen or having this special relationship, did it follow that everything went well in his life? Was he given special treatment? Well, it would be hard to say that considering the way his life ended. Arrested, judged, crucified.
The experience of the Baptism, was about that deep sense of being the Son of the Father, truly Beloved. Jesus experienced this in a deep way and his whole life was motivated by that sense of being Beloved. This motivated his relationship with others, his priorities, his way of seeing others. Especially the poor, the sick, the excluded. He was Beloved, so he was able to help others to see that they were Beloved. It was not about being superior, not about receiving special treatment, but a driving vision guiding his whole life.
When I was Vocation Director, I gradually came to realize that one of the things that we need to look at in a man considering the priesthood, is whether he has that sense of being Beloved. If a man thinks he is going to change the church, if he thinks he is special and superior to others, then it is probably not going to go well in the priesthood. Only if he really has a deep sense of being Beloved and then is motivated out of a spirit of gratitude will the priesthood be something healthy and good.
When a priest is rooted in a sense of being Beloved, he will minister in such a way, and be with people in such a way, that they will be able to experience themselves as Beloved. When people call us Father, it is not meant to put us on a pedestal, not to indicate that we are special. Rather, when we are called Father, it should be a reminder to us that we are to assist people to recognize the Father calling to their hearts, you are my daughter, you are my son.
The people in our world need this experience of being Beloved so deeply. Our leaders need this experience, our parents, our teachers, our priests. Someone who has this experience of being Beloved will be motivated by love, by gratitude, by a desire to serve others. They will not be looking for approval of others, not looking for special treatment.
As I watch movies and various shows today, so often the characters are dealing with issues in their relationships with their fathers, with their mothers. They did not experience being truly beloved in their family relationships. This really influences all of their relationships and their way of being with others.
When we look at various leaders in our world today, when we look back at their relationship or lack of relationship with their fathers, it often explains so much about how they are living. Who was someone who helped you to experience yourself as beloved? A parent, a teacher, a priest, a friend? In your relationships, are you with others in such a way that it helps them to experience themselves as beloved?
In our Baptism, we were united with Jesus in his relationship as the Beloved Son of the Father. Recognize yourselves as beloved daughters, beloved sons of God. Be with others so that they will be able to believe that they too are truly beloved.
