SAINT ANDRÉ BESSETTE, RELIGIOUS (OPTIONAL MEMORIAL)

You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. 

Imagine you are Jesus for a moment. That might be a stretch, but picture yourself being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan. As you come up out of the water, you see a vision in the sky of the Holy Spirit coming down on you. Then you hear a voice from heaven—God the Father saying that he is “well pleased” with you (Mark 1:11).

Now, you might think, “Of course God is saying this to Jesus! After all, he is the Son of God, so naturally his Father would be pleased with him.” But did you ever think about how Jesus might have heard these words? Imagine how much it must have encouraged him, especially as he was beginning his ministry and preparing to enter the desert for a forty-day fast and battle with Satan.

Don’t forget that Jesus is not just fully divine; he is fully human as well. God the Father surely spoke these words to him not just because he knew the victories Jesus would win or the miracles he would perform. No, he spoke them to affirm his love for Jesus even before he had won any victories or performed any miracles. In a sense, he was doing what any father would do. He was telling his Son that he loves him!

In a similar way, we all need to be encouraged—especially by God. The negative voices of the world, the urges of our fallen nature, and the temptations that come from the devil are constantly at work to bring us down. But God wants to remind us over and over that we are his beloved children. He wants to lift us up and urge us to live for him.

You probably won’t hear an audible voice or see a vision coming down from heaven, but that doesn’t mean that God isn’t speaking to you. He uses many ways to tell you how much he loves you and how delighted he is with you. He sees your struggles and successes, and he knows how much you want to please him. And so he will tell you, in the quiet of your heart, that he loves you and is committed to caring for you. As you read this passage, see if you can hear the Father whispering to you: “You are my beloved child, and with you I am well pleased.”

“Heavenly Father, thank you for your amazing love!”

1 John 5:5-13
Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20
Mark 1:7-11