We celebrate the Baptism of Jesus Christ this Sunday and, while doing so, take the opportunity to embrace the promises of our own. From Luke’s gospel, we hear:

After all the people had been baptized
and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying,
heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.
And a voice came from heaven,
“You are my beloved Son;
with you I am well pleased.”

Baptism is the gate that makes the Christian life possible. To be Christian means to be grafted onto Christ – a status that can be hard to swallow when our behavior seems to ignore the divine. Recognizing our own powerlessness over addictions, compulsions, and unhealthy attachments confirms the plunge taken in our baptism and our constant need for a savior. We find our identity as beloved sons and daughters of God – a seal that cannot be tarnished by sin or shame.

Just as we witnessed the magi change routes after encountering Jesus, there comes a point in our recovery journey where we cannot return to where we had come from. Sure, we can revert to old addictive and compulsive patterns, but not without the place in our soul that has been claimed by God and awoken to the Good News.

Clothed in the grace of Jesus Christ while still in tune with our inherent powerlessness and need for a savior, we find identity. In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1272) notes, “Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark of his belonging to Christ.”

The first step of recovery is a crucial starting point where the insufficiency of our human resources are brought to light. This step is a tangible way to carve space in our lives to surrender to the new life made available by God’s grace. Many of us like to think that we can achieve this work on our own and are often dissatisfied with recovery until we fully surrender.

As we begin a new calendar year, now is a great time to re-engage or begin working through the Twelve Steps. It is suggested that, while working through Step One, we write down compromising situations where our behavior has put us and others in harm’s way and brought various consequences. It is a simple, yet hardly easy way of coming to terms with the darkness that our own will has propelled us toward.

Those suffering with addictions, compulsions, and unhealthy attachments may know too well that one symptom of our condition is denial that we do, in fact, need God’s help. Putting the work of recovery down on paper reminds us of that from which we have been delivered and aligns us with God’s most beautiful and magnificent gift, our baptism.

Reflection Questions

• In what areas of your life do you find yourself powerless and in need of God’s help?
• What helps you embrace your baptism and identity as a beloved child of God? What freedom do you find as a result?
• What is God revealing to you that you have hidden from or avoided until now?

Sunday Mass Readings

First Reading: Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10
Second Reading: Acts 10:34-38
Gospel: Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

Download printable meeting reflections:
General Recovery
Family & Friends Recovery
Lust Addiction Recovery

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General Recovery
Family & Friends Recovery
Lust Addiction Recovery