The Baptism of the Lord

Jubilee Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope

January is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus

Reading from the Rule of Saint Benedict for January 1-21: The Prologue of the Holy Rule - Chapter 4 The Tools for Good Works.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters.

JESUS, MODEL OF GOODNESS,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

MARY, QUEEN AND MOTHER,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Dear faithful readers, I thought to give a brief shout today. After all, it is the Baptism of the Lord, the day the Holy Father, following a tradition established in 1981 by Pope Saint John Paul II, baptized 21 babies in the Sistene Chapel. For a bit of history then, it was in 1981, when then Pope John Paul II began baptizing children in the Pauline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, a ceremony that was reserved for children of Swiss Guards. In 1983, the Mass was moved to the Sistene Chapel and eventually extended to children of all Vatican employees. Give God the praise! 

Today is a day when, as Pope Francis preached, "Each of you, parents, and the Church itself are giving the greatest gift, the greatest gift: the gift of faith to the children." Our baptism is the greatest day of our lives, and, as such, is a day when we remember our date of baptism. Do you remember the date of your baptism? If you don't, why not contact the parish where you were baptized and ask. Mark your calendars and celebrate each year. As a voice from heaven came to Jesus, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased," the voice comes to each one of you, "You are my beloved child; with you I am well pleased." Grateful for the gift, may we receive the grace this week to live our baptismal promises with deeper authenticity and fervor.*

Now with a few voices to encourage us ...

Baptism is the "the sacrament of faith" in a particular way, 

since it is the sacramental entry into the life of faith.

(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1236)

Jesus listened with an open ear and an open heart to the voice of His Father. Listening, He obeyed. Let us, who have been baptized in Him, listen to the voice that calls us beloved children and gives us a work to do, the work of the Gospel proclaimed and lived in love for God and neighbor.

(Magnificat, Prayer for the Morning, commentary on Psalm 40, January 12, 2025, p. 161)

At your baptism, Jesus entered the world in a new way through His union with you and all that is unique in you.

(Father Richard Veras)

The soul is regenerated in the sacred waters of baptism and thus becomes God's child.

(Saint Maximilian Kolbe, 1894-1941)

Christ is baptized, not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by His cleansing to purify the waters which He touched.

(Saint Maximus of Turin, 380-465)

Baptism places upon our souls a mark that forever will identify it as one privileged of God.

(Sister Mary Jean Dorcy, OP, 1914-1988)

In baptism we have been made the temple of the living God. Let us welcome the Lord of glory in whatever guise He comes, receiving Him in joyful prayer, in purity of heart, and in charity toward all.

(Magnificat, Prayer for the Morning, commentary on Psalm 24, February 2, 2024)

And as Pilgrims of Hope in this Jubilee Year ...

In Your sacrament we daily embrace You and receive You into our bodies; make us worthy to experience the resurrection for which we hope. We have had Your treasure hidden within us ever since we received baptismal grace; it grows ever richer at Your sacramental table. Teach us to find our joy in Your favor! Lord, we have within us Your memorial, received at Your spiritual table; let us possess it in its full reality when all things shall be made new.

(From a sermon by Saint Ephrem, deacon, in Office of Readings, June 9)

* See Magnificat, January 11, 2025, Suggested Prayer of the Faithful, p. 160.

Today's photo: On a recent visit to "back home again in Indiana," I took this on a snowy and cold day while on a long walk. See the White River, with floating mallards, view from a bridge on College Avenue, Indianapolis, IN. I bet Jesus was glad he wasn't baptized in this frigid river. Burr ...😊 The Lord, over vast waters.

© Gertrude Feick 2025

WORLD WATER DAY

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Readings of the day: RB 43:1-12 Latecomers for the Work of God or in the Refectory

Mass: Gn 17:3-9; Resp Ps 105; Jn 8:51-59

Thompson Creek

Access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right, since it is essential to human survival and, as such, is a condition for the exercise of other human rights.

(Encyclical Letter Laudato Si, 30)

It’s pouring rain here on World Water Day. I share scattered ‘musings on water’. As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, I am familiar with the phrase: ‘A Peace Corps Volunteer doesn’t look at a glass as half empty or half full. She looks at it and says, “Hey, I could bathe in that!”’ I gained a great appreciation for water while serving in the Republic of South Africa. While living with a gogo (grandmother) in a dusty, hot, and dry village, there was a time when we went for one week with no water coming from the taps. At other times, the water supply was limited. We had to be sure our buckets were full at all times not knowing when the water supply would be shut off. Thankfully, my wise gogo had an emergency supply of water in the shed in the backyard. One day, to build character I think, she sent me along to the river to collect a bucket of water and carry it home on my head. I was not quite as adept at the task as my companions from the village. I saw small children pushing rickety wheel barrows from one side of a village to another to collect containers of water from a water tank. This task they did every morning before school. There I was coming from a culture that can take water for granted. For most of us, we go to the tap and fresh, clean, potable water comes out. If we are not satisfied with that, we go and buy bottled water. Many carry water bottles everywhere they go so as to remain hydrated. Not that we are going to stop doing these things today, but it can’t do much harm to reflect upon how blessed we are.

To defend the earth and to safeguard water is to protect life.

(Pope Francis, Twitter, March 22, 2018)

WHOEVER DRINKS THE WATER I SHALL GIVE WILL NEVER THIRST;

THE WATER I SHALL GIVE WILL BECOME IN HIM A SPRING OF WATER WELLING UP TO ETERNAL LIFE.

(Jn 4:14)