The Baptism of Our Lord

Synopsis of Homily:
Jesus' Baptism kicked off his public ministry. John showed us the need for all of us to prepare the way to Jesus through his life. After Jesus was baptized, He prayed. The heavens opened and God spoke to him. Jesus marveled at people doing small things with great love. Obedience and humility begins with prayer. These days, the world scoffs at these things, but it is essential to have these things in your life in order to follow in Jesus' footprints. All of these things begin with Baptism. We are wiped of original sin through our baptism, but must call sin what it is: SIN. As Catholics, we have the blessing of having sin removed through Reconciliation.

My thoughts:
I'm the kind of person who does little things, but in all honesty, it seems like I just don't do enough. I know people who do big things and get noticed for it. But, is that really what it's all about? As Father said in his homily (quoting Blessed Mother Teresa): Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.  It's not up to us to do "big things". It's the little things that will be remembered. A smile, an encouraging word, or just to listen to someone. I find myself being selfish in so many ways, and I hear myself thinking, "I just don't have time." As my husband says quite frequently: we all have 24 hours in a day. It's your decision on how to spend it.
I've been doing a lot of soul searching lately, and realize things need to change. I need to do more "small things" and let other things go.
Obedience: as Catholics, obedience doesn't just mean going to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days. It means living our lives as Christians, and having people we see every day or have just met know that we are Christians by our words and actions.
Humility: Is there anything we experience more humbling than confessing to another human being? I'm far from perfect in going to Reconciliation. It's hard, isn't it? To go to your parish priest and bare your heart & soul, to let him know that you are far from perfect? But what relief we feel when we leave the confessional and receive absolution for our sins.
Prayer: When Father said that after Jesus prayed, the heavens opened up and he heard God speak, my thought was that it was exactly how it is for us: God speaks to us through prayer. It isn't one-sided; we have to be open to hear him. He may not say exactly what we want to hear, and he may speak to us in different ways, but he does speak to us.
I don't believe in coincidences. I truly believe what people perceive as a coincidence is God speaking to us. Just yesterday I received this in my email after making the decision to link this blog on my personal blog:

We have to be Brave. We have to be Obedient. We have to be Humble. And, we have to Pray.