The Heavens were Opened

"The heavens were opened for him."

Mt 3:13-17

At the moment when Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened, the Spirit of God was poured upon him, and God the Father voiced his approval. Jesus' baptism must have been an awe-inspiring event to have witnessed.

Yet the same awesome realities are present at every baptism, including ours. God the Father claims us as his own. The Spirit of God is poured upon us. And heaven's gates are opened to us, never to be closed again.

What an awesome reality this is! Although we might turn away from heaven in our sin, it is always open to us. God never rejects us. And the Spirit of God, though we may cast him away from ourselves, never leaves us of his own will. Even when we reject him, he waits always at the door of our hearts, knocking and encouraging us to allow him back into our lives.

Like all the sacraments, baptism is given to us veiled by the physical. We see the water and oil, but we do not see the opened heavens or the descending dove. The glory and full power of baptism are hidden from our eyes. Comprehending the sacrament requires of us the very faith we ask for in receiving it.

God is merciful to us. He gives us the grace we need to ask for the faith we are to receive through baptism. He gives us a yearning to see the gates of heaven opening before us.

Thank God today for the amazing gift of your baptism. And resolve, in your heart, to walk with even greater purity of devotion toward the gates which wait, open, to welcome you.