The voice of God rings out loud and clear, the readings this week tell us, proclaiming a message of salvation.

That is not a hardship, not a slog through the salt mines of penitence and character-building and purifying and self-control. No: When you love someone and you see in their eyes the person they imagine you to be, your realized ideal

Sacraments have always been communal events. Luke sets the scene of Jesus’ Baptism by first describing the crowd:

Like a shepherd, our Lord cares for us. With faith in that, we pray for our needs and the needs of creation.

The readings for the Baptism of the Lord have an “Epiphany” feel to them. God is revealing something about Jesus, about how to follow Jesus, and ultimately about God’s self. The Messiah you have been expecting, God says, has arrived. All will see him. His appearance will be proclaimed from mountaintops.

If you go to church often enough, you’re so used to hearing about God’s love that the words can sound a little threadbare. So let’s focus on what it means to be the beloved of God.

Those in whom the Spirit comes to live are God’s new Temple. They are . . . places where heaven and earth meet. —N. T. Wright