Today we are celebrating the Baptism of the Lord. A few days ago, we left Baby Jesus being visited by the Magi; today we find him as an adult on the banks of the Jordan. The Liturgy has us take a leap of some 30 years, 30 years about which we know one thing: they were years of hidden life, which Jesus spent with his family — some, firstly in Egypt, as a migrant to escape Herod’s persecution, the others in Nazareth, learning Joseph’s trade — with family, obeying his parents, studying and working. It is striking that the Lord spent most of his time on Earth in this way: living an ordinary life, without standing out. We think that, according to the Gospels, there were three years of preaching, of miracles and many things. Three. And the others, all the others, were of a hidden life with his family. It is a fine message for us: it reveals the greatness of daily life , the importance in God’s eyes of every gesture and moment of life, even the simplest, even the most hidden. […]
