This article is part of the Marian Mondays Series, a weekly reflection on the mysteries of the rosary by Jonathan Conrad, owner and founder of The Catholic Woodworker. Subscribe to have these reflections and more sent straight to your inbox every week.
The Baptism of Jesus is a profound invitation to understand our place in God's family and our path toward spiritual renewal.
The baptism represents a profound universal truth about our spiritual identity: we are cleansed, renewed, and fully embraced in the arms of divine love. It’s a theme that resonates deeply as I consider our longing for belonging—a fundamental human desire to be seen, known, and loved unconditionally.
Join me as we delve into this mystery, reflecting on how it not only symbolizes our own baptism but also challenges us to live out the promises of our faith with renewed fervor and commitment. Let’s discover together the peace and belonging that comes from truly understanding and living this sacred mystery.
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Prefer to read the reflection instead? See the transcription below.
Hey, Jonathan here. Many of you know me as The Catholic woodworker. I've been praying the rosary daily for almost 10 years now, and I've learned a lot in the process, and I want to share some of those insights with you.
Today, I wanted to walk you through a meditation on the First Luminous Mystery, which is the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. The fruit of that mystery is obedience.
Learning the mysteries and learning how to meditate on them really does require you to know the stories, but it's not a prerequisite for praying the rosary every day. I would argue that pray the rosary every day, and in that process, over time, give yourself months and years. And I mean that, months and years of praying the rosary daily.
In addition to that, spending time with the mysteries, reading them in Scripture, reading books about the rosary, all of these things are going to help you build these stories in your mind so that it makes it easier for you to recall them.
Meditating on this mystery can be simply a reminder of our own baptism. The hidden reality behind this sacramental mystery, that we are cleansed of our sins completely, and we begin anew as an adopted child of God into God's family.
And there's so much beauty and goodness and peace that we can find in that because in our human nature, in this world, one of our fundamental needs and desires is to belong, to be known, to be seen, to be heard, to be understood.
We have that in God as baptized Christians.
I often forget that and instead fixate on and focus on where in this life, in this world, I don't belong.
In reality, it is true that there is no place on earth where I'm going to perfectly belong, where I'm going to be fully known and understood and seen and loved unconditionally. There is no place in this life, in human relationships where I'm going to experience the fullness of that belonging.
And so we have an opportunity, an invitation to accept that reality in our faith and live from that place. And I think often that does require an element of faith, of believing it, even though I don't feel it all the time - believing it and living and acting from that place.
That reality of our true belonging can invite us into two things: gratitude for our baptism, and it can also invite us into the sacrament of reconciliation, where that baptismal promise is renewed.
We can constantly go back to the Father, repent of our sins, be forgiven, restore that grace, and continue to pursue that relationship as our first and highest priority.
I want to thank you for your time. I'd love to hear from you, and I'd love to share some of my insights as I've journeyed through the rosary these past 10 years. Thanks!
To Jesus through Mary.
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