The Gentle Voice!

Very seldom in the Bible we witness the Trinity so clearly visible and at work. Today’s gospel reading is one of those passages where we see the Trinity so visible and at work. So often we read in the NT that Jesus filled with the Spirit did this and did that. Baptism changes the outlook on life: from children of people to the children of God. Transfiguration and Baptism are the objective witnesses of the voice of God in the NT. Both the messages spoke about the intimacy of the father and the son, and also the importance of listening.

Jesus’ words and actions revealed the Heart of the Father. Jesus inaugurates his public activity by stepping into the place of sinners. Our Pope explains the baptism of Jesus as Jesus’ way of referring to his death and the Heavenly Voice is the Father’s way of referring to the Resurrection (Jesus of Nazareth p 18). Baptism thus is our readiness to surrender to the will of the father following the invitation initiated by God primarily.

To build a house we get quotes from professionals, to put our children in schools, we get ideas from friends and well-wishers, to get jobs we approach many and all our consumer mentality is accompanied by our friends and people even to buy clothes and pets! Who do we approach and what do we do to construct our spiritual homes? Why do I need a spirituality, why do I have to come to Church, why do my children and I need sacraments? Do we have any questions at all relating to our relationship with God? What do we do when we have those questions?

There is a gentle voice within each of us. As children we heard it and now that we are adults we pay more attention to the voices of parents, siblings, friends, critics, television, strangers and experts. When these voices become so central and fascinating we don’t listen to the gentle voice within us clearly. Our conscience is ignored or suppressed by our own deafness. It is the gentle breeze through which God comes to us so powerfully. If we are so noisy ourselves or in a noisy situation where nothing could be heard except the noise, this gentle breeze has no effect in us.

Baptism is one such moment where we experience that calm and tranquility in us and begin to listen to our consciousness. Everyone at the time of baptism receives a responsibility: the child, the parents, the God-parents and the congregation. Jesus’ life-style changed by Baptism: from working with wood as a carpenter to being busy with the business of the Father; from a small family to the ends of the earth; from Cross to Resurrection.

Jesus heard Father calling him ‘you are my beloved Son’. Here is the big challenge for everyone: When do I hear my parents call me – You are my beloved son or daughter? What do I need to do to achieve that status? When do I hear my children call me – You are my beloved mom or dad? What do I need to do achieve that status? Does my conscience tell me that God is yet to reveal to me that he is pleased with me? God-parents! Do you really feel that you have done your part in educating your god-children spiritually and could hear God saying ‘I am well-pleased’?

Whose voice is the strongest in our lives that we hear it all the time even in the absence of that person and why? Do I listen to my conscience and act accordingly? If I have to change one thing in my present life-style, what would that be? Let us gradually calm other voices and pay more attention to our conscience, the gentle voice within us!