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The Father's Son: The Baptism of the Lord

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8 January 2010 - 2:20pm — joyce

 

The Father's Son: The Baptism of the Lord
 
"You are my beloved Son; with whom I am well pleased."
 
To talk about God's fatherhood is almost cliche to us today and has even drawn the ire of modern feminists.  Is this just a pious thought that is far from the heart of the Christian faith?  God can be 'mother' too, right?  Perhaps it's better to speak of God as 'parent,' instead of Father; or even 'Source of All Being'?  
 
The Old Testament calls God 'father' only six times, and then usually metaphorically.  The New Testament starts out in much the same way in Matthew's Gospel.  We hear about a 'son,' but it's not until Jesus' great "Sermon on the Mount" that he introduces us to the "Father" seventeen times!  
 
At this moment of Jesus' baptism, the Father opens a window into the heavens (cf. Mk.1:10) and reveals the heart of His inner life: God is not a solitude, but a communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  God is not like a father; He is Father from all eternity.   
 
 
 
At our baptism the Father speaks these same words to us: you are my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased!  What Jesus is by nature, we become by grace.  St. Athanasius said it well: the Son of God became a son of man, so that sons of men might become sons of God.    
 
We become sons and daughters of the Father in and through the Son: plunged into the waters, we die with Christ and are risen in His transfigured life! We are brought into Jesus' relationship with the Father, and He becomes...Our Father...who says to us you are my beloved son!
 
As we celebrate this feast of the Baptism of the Lord, let us ask God for the grace to know ourselves as His sons and daughters; may He give us the grace to allow him to father us as well.