January 12, 2025
Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
— Luke 3:21–22
These closing words from today’s Gospel, echoing the Lord’s words at the beginning of today’s First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, open us up to a great mystery. Jesus is God, the Second Person of the Divine Trinity, who out of love for us became human. True God and True man as we say each week in the Profession of Faith (Creed) at Mass. Although Jesus is fully God, at the beginning of his public ministry, his Heavenly Father knew he needed, in his humanity, to hear to the words, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus shows us what it means to be fully human, and this passage shows us how deeply we as humans need to know that we are loved and appreciated in order to fully develop to our full potential.
As Americans, we tend to be inclined to the illusion of the self-made man or woman. However, Pope St. John Paul II once wrote in his first public writings as pope that humans cannot live without love. We are incomprehensible to ourselves, and our lives are senseless if love is not revealed to us, if we do not encounter love, if we do not experience it and make it our own, if we do not participate intimately in it. We are created in love to receive and to give love as a free gift. There are no self-made men or women.
Today’s Gospel passage challenges us to ask ourselves how we express love, affirmation, and esteem to those closest to us. We all need to hear the words, “you are beloved to me, I am pleased with you,” in order to reach our full potential. When was the last time you said in words how much the people in your life mean to you and how much you appreciate them? So many adults (especially men) report that the greatest unmet emotional need in their life is not having heard from their parents (especially their fathers) that they love them and are proud of them. St. Teresa of Kolkata (popularly known as Mother Teresa) once said the greatest poverty in America was not lack of food, but lack of love.
Every Friday evening in observant Jewish households, they celebrate the Sabbath Meal (Shabbat Seder). Part of this meal, every week for thousands of years, is the Eishet Chayil (the praise of the woman). Each week, the father or presiding male, recites the praise of the virtuous wife (or woman) from the 31st chapter of the biblical Book of Proverbs. What wisdom is found in this practice! In general, it can be harder for men to verbalize this type of affirmation. Here the ritual demands that he stand before his wife, children, friends, and family to praise his wife in front of them. Modern Jewish people often have the father also praise his wife in his own words, the wife praises her husband, the parents praise their children, and the children praise their parents and each other. You can imagine that certain weeks, in the everyday strain of marriage and family life, this can be difficult, but the ritual demands it.
What if we adopted a similar practice in our households? What would it mean for spouses to hear our love, pride, and appreciation both in deeds and in words? Or to set aside special time each day or week just to listen to them with undivided attention? What would it mean for our children, even our adult children, to hear how much we love them and take pride and pleasure in them? Or that phone call or letter of appreciation to our parents? What would it mean in our workplaces if every employee knew their work was appreciated by their supervisor or owner? I once was speaking with a deacon who instituted a daily listening session with his wife and a weekly listening session with each child and teen. He gave them no advice, just his time and attention. He said it was the best thing he ever did for his marriage and family.
Jesus, in his humanity, needed to hear these powerful words from his Father. We all do.