The Gift of Being A Beloved Son
A brief reflection on being born into the sonship of God. And giving your dad concert tickets.
+JMJ+
Today time is short for me to write a reflection. A lot of that is because of various obligations I have to my family. Some are the duties of a husband: to help around the house, clean things up, cook before the week ahead starts.
And one big one is the obligation of being a son. You see, I bought my dad tickets to a concert for Christmas. It’s one I really thought he’d like, and it seems like he did. But because of a different family obligation, he can’t go. So I am going for him.
And while the concert I’m sure will be good (having just gotta back- it was pretty good!), and I’m hoping my wife will enjoy it even though it’s not a musician she knows well (she thought it was okay), it still feels like an obligation.
This gift has to be used by someone. When I tried to give it to others they weren’t able to go. And it struck me that perhaps this is a sign of sonship: what we give to our fathers returns back to us to be shared with others. Whether it is love, kindness, or even concert tickets.
Now this isn’t really a theological insight, I just happen to have the tickets. But I wonder if reflecting on this event, which I’ve been trying to figure out all week who will get the tickets, can’t remove some of the stress and tie to this series of reflections on the Holy Family.
In this week’s readings, we see the Baptism of Jesus. John the Baptist tells us that the Lord does not need Baptism and Jesus replies that it is to be accepted so that the two may “fulfill all righteousness”.
This makes me think back to how Matthew spoke of St. Joseph just a chapter or two ago, saying Joseph was “a righteous man.” There is something fatherly about the passing down of righteousness. Fathers are called to instruct their sons to act as righteous men. Daughters learn what a good man looks like when they see their fathers act rightly. And God the Father echoes this natural passing down in supernatural terms by acknowledging Jesus as His Beloved Son after the baptism.
Jesus ihas all righteousness with or without the baptism. He is the Beloved Son, a person of the Trinity; he is righteousness itself. The righteousness He is seeking in the Baptism is not for the Son but for those who He shares it with. This starts with John and his disciples who hear the message of sonship.
Perhaps the gift I gave to my father is a type of this: it was a gift I intended for him, just as Christ gave God the Father the gift of Himself in submitting in all righteousness to Baptism. Maybe God is returning this gift to me, not for me, but for some other reason.
The psalm tells us, as sons and daughters of God, “to give to the Lord.” How can we give God anything? He gives us everything? We have nothing to offer him that can add to Him. God is the rightful Lord of all creation; we cannot give Him anything He isn’t already due. But the psalm continues to say what we can give God: “give to the LORD glory and praise, Give to the LORD the glory due his name; adore the LORD in holy attire.”. We can give the Lord our praise and adoration. We can come to mass. We can seek Him in the liturgy. We can enter into God’ family through our baptism.
To bring it back to the Holy Family, what does Jesus receive from Mary and Joseph? From Mary, Jesus receives His human nature. The Mother of the Lord gives Jesus the same flesh and blood that submerges under the Jordan and reemerges with the public praise of God after being “cleaned of all sin” — though He is always without sin. And what of Joseph? What does he give to Jesus? A model of righteousness. An upright and just household. And, most importantly, an earthly father who praises and gives glory to Our Father Who art in Heaven, remaining close to Jesus alongside the Blessed Virgin Mary. Joseph gives back to God the gifts and graces he was given: his wife, his son, his whole life.
Lord, help us to better understand you through meditating on your baptism tonight.
God love you!
