Today's readings are here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010912.cfm
When Jesus was ascending out of the water, three things occurred that were physical, that is, they could be seen and heard, not only by Jesus, but also by the crowd. First, the heavens were opened. Second, the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove. Third, God the Father testified to Jesus' divine Sonship and to his pleasure in him.
These things happened physically for Jesus at his baptism, so that we might know and believe they occur spiritually for us when we are baptized. The heavens are opened, which means we have access to God. The Holy Spirit indwells us. And God the Father adopts us as his beloved sons and daughters and is pleased with us, because the indwelling Holy Spirit washes away our sins and replaces them with his love and all the virtues that go with it.
Through our baptism, we were "wedded" to God. God made the vow to us to be our loving heavenly Father, and we made the vow to him to be his faithful sons and daughters by, daily, renouncing the sin and self the Holy Spirit washed away and living according to the love and virtues he infused in us.
May God help us to be faithful to our baptismal promises every day of our lives so that, at the moment of death, we might "see the heavens opened" and the "Holy Spirit descending upon us", and might hear the Father say, "This is my beloved son or daughter, with whom I am well pleased".
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