“You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.” Those words, which make up the last line of our gospel this weekend as we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord & enter into Ordinary Time, are words that are spoken, not just to Jesus, but to each & every one of us. Maybe there wasn’t a booming voice from the heavens on the day that we were baptized, but in that moment, God spoke those same words into our hearts, “You are my beloved son/daughter, with you I am well pleased.”

That is our most basic of identities and the identity that should be at the center of everything we are & everything we do. We are called to live that reality of our identity as God’s beloved son or daughter. Sometimes, though, things happen that cause us to lose sight of that identity. Maybe we know someone who is struggling right now, maybe we ourselves are struggling. Maybe we know someone who has walked away from the faith, maybe our own faith has grown dim.

This weekend, I invite each of us to pray, to pray in a special way for someone we might know who has wandered away from the faith, someone who seems to have lost their faith. You don’t have to announce it to them, you don’t have to let anyone else know who it is, but pray for them. Pray for them each day this week & maybe continue to pray for them throughout the year, that they might remember their true identity as God’s beloved.

At the 11:00 Mass this weekend, we welcome Randall Littlejohn to Mass in a special way. Randall is in our RCIA process (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) which we are holding jointly between us, St. Vincent De Paul, St. Mel’s, St. Ignatius of Antioch. This weekend we welcome him formally into the Order of Catechumens through a rite known as the Rite of Acceptance. This weekend Randall formally declares his intent to continue along the path of conversion & seek full Communion with us through the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, & Eucharist. As Randall formally declares that intent before us, we also formally declare our intent to pray for him & for all those journeying through our RCIA process.