Over the Christmas season, which ends today, the Gospel passages have told how God’s Son was made manifest to the world. The angel told the shepherds that a savior had been born in Bethlehem. The Magi followed the star to pay homage to the newborn Messiah. Today we hear that at Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove and the Father’s voice could be heard saying, “You are my beloved Son.” We rejoice today, for the Son of God is continually revealed to us. 
 
Today’s first reading and Gospel feature nearly the same words from God. Centuries before Christ’s birth, Isaiah says God proclaims, “Here is . . . my chosen one with whom I am pleased.” When Jesus was baptized, the Father spoke from heaven, “You are my beloved Son: with you I am well pleased.” 
When we were baptized, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon us, much as we hear in the second reading, hearkening back to Jesus’ own baptism. The letter to Titus asserts that with our “bath of rebirth” we “become heirs in hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5, 7). How appropriate as we begin this jubilee year as pilgrims of hope. Our baptism confers a share in the salvation brought by Jesus, who was the first to receive the Holy Spirit in baptism, enabling us to hope for more than this world could ever give: eternal life with the Lord. May this hope for our future bring us the comfort that Isaiah promises, the desire “to live temperately, justly, and devoutly” that Paul commends (Titus 2:12), and the reassurance we hear from the Father when Jesus is baptized.
In this jubilee year of hope, I invite you to pray together this prayer;
Act of Hope
O Lord God, I hope by your grace for the pardon of all my sins and after life here to gain eternal happiness because you have promised it who are infinitely powerful, faithful, kind, and merciful. In this hope, I intend to live and die. Amen.

                                                                 Fr Anthony K. Korir SMA 
                                                                 With you a Christian, 
                                                                 For you a priest