“You are my beloved Son.”

This Sunday is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This feast both ends the Christmas season and begins the season of Ordinary Time. The parts of the Gospels that deal with Jesus' life before his public ministry are called the Infancy Narratives. With the end of the Christmas season these stories also come to an end and, with the story of Jesus' baptism by John, we pick up at the very beginning of Jesus' public ministry in his adulthood.

The story of the baptism itself is an important one for many reasons. One is that, through being baptized himself, Jesus is giving us an example of the sacramental journey that we should all participate in. Upon coming up out of the waters, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus and God the Father says to him, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” The Church teaches us that the same thing happens to each of us at our baptism. Through the working of the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of Baptism we all become beloved sons and daughters of the most high God. We also become temples of the Holy Spirit, which is poured out into us in a profound way in the Sacrament of Confirmation. These two sacraments, which are intimately connected to one another, bring us into the Church and enable us to help build it up. And through the Eucharist, in which we sacramentally receive Jesus himself, we are continually filled with grace and life to nourish us for the journey of life and to continue to transform the grace of our baptism and confirmation into love and action.

As we enter into Ordinary Time this year, and as we look forward to the new year that lies ahead, let us pray that each one of us may be reminded of the call God has given to us as his children! May we remain close to the Church and the Church's sacraments this year in order to continue to receive God's grace and live out God's vision for each of our lives.

Want to prepare your heart and mind for Sunday's Mass? Click here to find the readings.