There is an old Hindu parable about a tiger cub raised by goats. The cub learned to bleat and nibble grass and behave like a goat. One night a tiger attacked the goats, and they scattered for safety. But the tiger cub kept grazing and crying like a goat without getting frightened. The old tiger roared, “What are you doing here, living with these cowardly goats?”
He grabbed the cub by the scruff of the neck, dragged him to a pond and said: “Look how our faces are reflected in the water! Now you know who you are and whose you are.”
The tiger took the cub home, taught him how to catch animals, eat their meat, roar, and act like a tiger. The tiger cub thus discovered his true self.
Today’s Gospel seems to suggest that Jesus received from Heaven a fresh flash of realization of Who, and Whose He really was (His Identity) and of what He was supposed to do (His Mission), on the day of His baptism in the River Jordan.
- Submitted by Fr. Joseph Dovari