We all need a bit of reassurance now and then. At one level we know that God loves us and will never leave us. But really internalizing that knowledge is something we continue to work on and we need constantly to strive to deepen that knowledge.
Whatever our level of certainty of God’s everlasting and extraordinary love, it helps to hear the words. Just as I tell my daughter every night (and numerous other times over the course of the day) that I love her, it is helps us to hear God tell us of his love.
One of the passages that always brings me consolation is from Isaiah. I had these lines printed on a a small card that I used to keep taped just inside the door of my office, allowing me to stop and look at them every time I walked out of the office. You might want to sit with them this morning, on this day of the Baptism of the Lord.
But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine. When you pass through the water, I will be with you; in the rivers you shall not drown. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned; the flames shall not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in return for you. Because you are precious in my eyes and glorious, and because I love you, I give men in return for you and peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; from the east I will bring back your descendants, from the west I will gather you.
Creo en Dios! 