Dear Parishioners,

For many weeks we were waiting for the start of the Christmas season and the celebration of Our Lord’s birth. But now, where it seems like it’s only been a few days since we had Christmas, it’s time for the Christmas season to end with this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

The Christmas season is not like the Easter season where we have eight weeks before we reach the Solemnity of Pentecost. I’m sure that there are some people that would love to have that many more weeks of the Christmas season before we end up in Ordinary Time. Yet there is a wisdom in having a Christmas season that is shorter than the Easter season. It teaches us that most of our life is lived in the ordinary times and how we need to make the most of everyday life. Yet as God sent His Son to be among us, we are reminded that we need to have Christ in our everyday. Our baptism in the faith, no matter how long ago it was, begins a lifetime of seeking to live out our faith. Like anything else that we may experience, we realize that a life of faith has just as many challenges as we live our life in the best way that we can.

Do you have some old photos of your baptism day? Look for them and pull them out. They will provide some good memories. If you were baptized as an infant, you probably will not remember that day very well. Yet some of the stories that you may have heard from your mom and dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles or your siblings remind us how we now belong to Christ. Your baptism day was truly a new beginning for you!

As we think about our own baptism, let us use this feast to renew our faith and understanding of how to live out our call to follow Christ. For our faith is indeed a gift that we have received, a gift that will lead us closer to the promise of the heavenly Kingdom.

Thanks for reading!

Fr. Mark