BELOVED CHILD

January 11, 2026 – Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011126.cfm)

As we all know nowadays, there is an updated way of praying the rosary. Instead of the usual joyful – sorrowful – glorious mysteries, there is an added mystery called the Luminous mystery or the Mystery of the Light to be prayed every Thursdays. This is to emphasize that the life of Jesus is not only Joyful, Sorrowful, & Glorious, but also Luminous.

Meaning, our salvation thru Jesus does not happen only by means of his birth, suffering & death, and resurrection, but above through his public ministry & mission. Luminous Mystery of the rosary highlights then the evangelization & ministerial work of Jesus proclaiming & bringing above the Good News of God’s salvation to all. 

Thus, it emphasizes that the mission and public ministry of Jesus wherein his life where not only joyful, sorrowful and glorious but also luminous, radiating God’s love to the all humanity and that Jesus have proclaimed, preached, and shared the Gospel of God’s love to all.

And the first mystery of the Light – the first highlight of Jesus’ public ministry is his baptism, the Baptism of the Lord. Our gospel today, the Baptism of Jesus by the river Jordan marks the beginning of His public ministry. After thirty years of local ordinary life, Jesus now exposed & revealed himself to the world publicly that He is the long-awaited & anointed Messiah. In his baptism, Jesus knows Himself as God beloved Son, whom the world should listen.

Meaning, the child Jesus did not remain a child, but grew up as a mature adult responsible person who is on mission, on-the-go & has a message to share for all of us in this life. He offers us not only joy, sorrow & glory but also Light, meaning, direction, guidance & illumination for our earthly & eternal life given to us by God through His Son. Here, Jesus is affirmed as God’s beloved and marked the beginning of his ministry, evangelization and mission.

Consider then that when he was baptized in the river Jordan by John the Baptist, he needs to hear the words and confirmation from the Father, himself saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well please”. Such words emphasize his very spiritual identity before God and the vision of God’s kingdom.

Here, he is reminded in a deep, deep way of who he is, of his very being before God and people – that among anything else, He is God’s beloved Son. This is the very affirmation and confirmation of his being before God.

In the same way, when he carried out his mission and public ministry, Jesus wants us also to hear the same message from the Father that “You are my Beloved on whom my favor rests”. Jesus wants us to be aware and hear of the very reality that before God, it is not only Jesus but we, you and I who believe in Jesus are also essentially God’s beloved sons & daughters.

In God’s heart and eyes, we are His beloved children. And by virtue of our baptism, we are consecrated to be God’s children. We are His beloved, not because of our merits – not because we did anything, not because we proved ourselves or not because of what we did and have achieved in life. God still loves us whatever we do or whatever happens in our life, and He would even love us more when while still in this world we also proclaim to Him and all that, “Yes, Lord, I love you, too”.

Once in a dream a lady found herself at the heaven’s door. She confidently knocks at the door and demands “Let me in”.  But instead she heard God’s loud voice asking, “who are you?” She then replied, “You don’t know me. I am the mother of our town’s mayor. I have been known for my generosity, an elder of the church’s lay organization and have sponsored the education of your seminarians and ordination of your priests. I even spearheaded the renovation of your cathedral in our town”. “Sorry, I don’t know you”, God replied. Angry and disgusted with God, she just stayed outside, grumbling at the doorsteps, while seeing others being admitted inside. Coming to her senses, she once again knocks at the door and requests for admittance. She said, “Lord, actually, my life has been a failure. I am separated from my husband. My children have been involved with a lot of questionable & corrupt activities. I have been oppressive landlord, abusive lady and known gambler. I am a sinner and have caused other’s to sin. I am sorry, Lord”. God replied, “is that so? But still, who are you?” Confused and ashamed of herself, she again stayed outside and pondered who she really is before God. Then something dawned in her that made her stand, knocks at the door and humbly admits “Now I know who I am, Lord. Despite what happened to me in life, I am still your beloved child.” The door then opened widely and God’s voice joyfully proclaimed “Welcome back, my daughter. Come on in.”

As Christmas is about to end and we are just starting the year, same way as Jesus grew up maturely in life & mission, let us not treat Him to remain as a child, but we allow Him to grow mature in our lives & let Him do his mission & ministry work for us now, so that we can fully benefit from the promise of Salvation he offers us, as God’s beloved children.

Today we celebrate the feast of Lord’s Baptism for us to once anew hear from Him that we are God’s beloved and proclaim to other that God is also our Beloved. Let us now renew our baptismal consecration, as we profess our faith….