God’s Poetry

Dear Friend,

As we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord this weekend, words come to my mind: God the Father of Mercies, through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, has reconciled the world to himself and given us the Holy Spirit to help us… These words echo the words the priest uses in the Sacrament of Reconciliation to remind the penitent of the big picture.  

In Matthew’s Gospel it goes like this: At the river Jordan, as John the Baptist faces Jesus, a voice comes from the heavens: “‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” Divine life has entered the world in a new way. God has reconciled the world. Think of the world as God’s poetry. It’s newly “published.” God has straightened its edges, justified the margins, and adjusted the text so that we can grasp what’s being said, and, more importantly, so that what’s being said can grasp us: it is the word of Love.

Another image for this is the new pathway into the church. We don’t step up into the church anymore. We walk right in, and so does everyone else, even those with limited mobility. Wheelchairs too, can roll right in. The “problem” is, this new pathway takes some getting used to. My legs and feet are set in their ways, and when I face that door, they simply want to do things their way, the old way.  

Baptized by John, Jesus moves through Galilee giving the sick, the immobile, and those oppressed by the devil access to the one he calls his Father. Through the Holy Spirit, right up to this day, he invites his followers to join him - “for God was with him” and God is with us (at the new doorway!).  

Gratefully,

Father Dan ofm