Baptism Of The Lord 2009 - God our Father
January 2009
Today we remember the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.
We hear the words from God the Father “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
As you know I was away last week enjoying some R. & R.
I came back Friday afternoon and immediately thought ‘what on earth am I going to talk about this weekend.’ So in desperation I read the readings, logged on to the web and sussed out sermons from wherever I could get them. There was no joy until I came upon the following story from a book called ‘Healing through the Mass’ by Robert DeGrandis.
And I quote:
‘I would like to share with you what a lady called Doris wrote about her life.
“My father abandoned his wife and four children when I was young. I never saw him and never heard from him, and until I was 18 I believed he was dead. When Aunt Emma, my father’s sister, told me he was alive, I was astonished. I gave her my graduation picture to give to him, and hoped he would contact me. He never did. Later, when I committed my life to Jesus, I developed a relationship with Him (Jesus) and knew His love. Yet I was afraid of God the Father. Knowing Him as a tender and loving Father seemed impossible. One day I learned that my father had died. My deepest prayer to meet him would not be fulfilled. I felt an enormous hurt, and visited Aunt Emma. She told me a little about his life and death, and said he decided not to see me because he was too ashamed of his behaviour as a young father. He must have known, through her, that for 17 years I had asked about him. I stood near his grave engulfed in anguish. My search was over. This was as close as I would ever get to my father. I cried out to God, ‘It’s too late, too late! I have no father!’ At that point I heard a voice say, ‘I am your Father.’ I turned around but no one was there. Again I heard the words, this time softer. ‘I am your Father.’ It was hard to believe at first, but the God I had feared spoke to me. I felt His love surround me. Because God revealed Himself to me as Father, I no longer feel the hurt of an abandoned child, nor the pain from my fruitless search. I was healed so that only the memory and none of the pain remains. That afternoon in the lonely cemetery changed my life. Where God was once only a remote figure of the Trinity, He is now the Father I talk with, walk with, and praise each day. I realize this wonderful Father loves all His children so much that He impatiently awaits the day that He can draw us close to Himself forever.”
So, no matter what I have done or not done God my Father looks on me and says; ‘You are my beloved Son/Daughter, with whom I am well pleased.’