Reflection:
I like being up early. I really don’t like getting up early, but once up, I cherish the quiet, the stillness of the morning. It is in that stillness that I believe we can come to know who we are. That stillness, that solitude is where Jesus, in today’s gospel, comes to a deeper understanding of who he is and of his mission.
There is so much noise all around us all day. A cacophony of voices all try to tell us what to think, what to do, what to believe. Even Jesus realizes that others try to define him. “Who do the crowds say that I am?” he asks his disciples. They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” We want to make Jesus into what we want Jesus to be.
There is but one voice that Jesus listens to, often in quiet solitude. That true voice speaks to him, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
I am equally at fault wanting to make others into my own image and likeness, wanting others to see the world as I see it. Probably like many of us, I listen too much to the voices that affirm the world as I want it to be. The political and religious rancor has become deafening and defeating, even depressing. So, I crawl out of bed earlier than I would like to sit in silence with a cup of coffee. No news. No television. In the quiet I try to filter out the noisy voices but one: You are my beloved. That is all I am. That is all I need to be.
