With the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord today we close out the Christmas season. Tomorrow we move back into Ordinary Time until Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, on March 5. If you haven’t picked up a church calendar please do so after Mass today in order to know the major feasts and liturgical seasons that we observe throughout this year.
When Jesus entered the waters of the Jordan River to be baptized by John, he did so not because he needed to be baptized – after all John’s baptism was for the forgiveness of sins and Jesus had no sin. Jesus entered those waters to sanctify and to empower the water to become a vehicle of the Holy Spirit, bringing cleansing, rebirth and transformation to all who would receive this new baptism. It was in the Jordan River at his baptism that Jesus instituted the sacrament of Christian baptism, something essentially different and greater than the baptism of John, which foreshadowed it.  Jesus humbled himself and entered the waters of the Jordan River and was baptized there to entice us to follow him into those life-giving waters to be made children of his Father and to have the gifts of his Holy Spirit poured into our hearts. Thank God we have followed Jesus into those life-giving waters.
Give thanks to Lord today for your baptism by dipping your fingers into the holy water font, and then bless yourself while saying quietly or to yourself: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Fr. Jim