From the Pastor's Desk: January 12, 2020

From the Pastor’s Desk:                                                                                                               
January 12, 2020

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased!”
 
     These words from today’s Gospel bring us straight to the heart of today's feast - the Baptism of the Lord. On the holy night in Bethlehem, Jesus was born among us, in the poverty of a manger. On the day of Epiphany, the Magi acknowledged Him as the long expected Messiah. Today, the scene on the banks of the Jordan River present the solemn proclamation of Jesus as the Son of God. It is from the moment of Jesus’ baptism, that His public ministry begins the saving mission of the world- His teaching, healing and liberating enslaved souls through the saving grace of His life, passion, death and resurrection. “ When the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done, but because of His mercy, He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He richly poured out on us, through Jesus Christ our savior.”-Titus 3: 4-6
 
     Although free from sin, Jesus entered the waters of Jordan to be baptized. His baptism, however, is quite different in nature. It is not about having His sins forgiven, but more importantly, it is a moment of approval and blessing to inaugurate a new phase in His life – a time when Jesus shows His humility and unity with all of us. He was baptized to wash away our sins and to baptize the people into Himself. Jesus is washing the waters of the world with His body, so they may wash us free of our sins. He is announcing the importance of baptism, which will become the source of His new creation of the Body of Christ– the Church.  “The Lord desires to be baptized,” says St. Augustine, ”so that He might freely proclaim through His humility, what for us was to be, a necessity.”
 
     The necessity of baptism is the door to a life of holiness. The call to be holy is given at baptism when we are empowered by the gift of the Holy Spirit. "You are my beloved son, my beloved daughter. In you I am well pleased!" Such marvelous words of affirmation, which we all hear at the very beginning of our journey of faith, as we become God’s beloved children. It is the beginning of our vocation, a call to holiness, a call to discipleship, a call to be members of a family, to be part of a communal mission, to work, to make God’s presence more visible, to build a civilization of love, where there is greater justice and greater concern for those in need. The Lord wants His love and truth to shine through us, that others may see the goodness and truth of God’s message of salvation. This is our message, a message to holy and faithful children of God, which needs to be proclaimed loud and clear in our world today.
 
     With the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, the season of Christmas comes to an end. Tomorrow we begin Ordinary Time in the Liturgy, the term that may be misleading…for there is nothing ordinary about it.  In the context of the liturgical year, the term “ordinary” does not mean “usual or average”, but rather celebrates all aspects of the Mystery of Christ and instructs us on how to live out our Christian faith in our daily lives.  It also gives us an opportunity to enter more fully into the mystery of “Sunday”.  It offers a great opportunity to deepen the gift of our faith and find opportunities to experience the “holy moments” in our everyday life. 
 
     Our beautifully decorated church, exceptional music and many other aspects that allowed us to experience this Christmas in such powerful ways, were efforts of so many dedicated people who came together to transform our worship place into modern Bethlehem. I want to express my profound gratitude of thanks to everyone who in any way helped with preparing, cleaning, organizing and decorating our church. I also want to express words of gratitude to all who came to share in the wonderful cultural diversity of our parish last Sunday.  It was so wonderful to see so many of our parishioners sharing in the spirit of joy, friendship, and fellowship.  A word of thanks to the Pastor’s Advisory Team and especially Marcia Vigue and Karen Booth who coordinated the event, and to everyone who took part in the celebration to make it such a success.  To all of you for all you do – thank you. Job well done!
 
Wishing you a blessed and grace-filled week! 
With prayers, Fr. Andy