Invited into Beloved Community

Today, using the account in Mark, we read about the baptism of Jesus by John at the Jordan, and we remember and celebrate our own baptism. A question that often arises with the baptism of Jesus is why would Jesus need to be baptized like the sinners to whom John was preaching, “Repent and be baptized”? Maybe Jesus was baptized and the spirit descended to proclaim he was beloved in order to demonstrate that Jesus was very much one of us and we, too, are beloved. In our own baptism God declares us to be beloved just as Jesus was proclaimed beloved. In our baptism, we are all loved uniquely, and we are thus all of one family, created in the image of God who loves everyone. It is incumbent on each of us to realize that not only are we beloved of God, but everyone is, and we need to reflect that in our relationships. When we are feeling down, we must realize that we are beloved. If we get angry with someone, we must realize that they are also beloved. Remembering our baptism is a way to reconnect to that deep feeling of being beloved.