To watch Fr. Joe’s homily for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord: CLICK HERE!
For the coming months, Our Parish in a variety of ways will be asking each of us to give some time… some attention to the Prayer of Prayers we call the Mass.
To begin this effort, all registered Parishioners received 2 Catholic Updates:
- A Walk thru the Mass: Why We Do What We Do
- Participating Fully at Sunday Mass
As we know the Mass is comprised of two main parts: the Liturgy (Work of the People) of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
The Liturgy of the Word is the Scriptures that we hear every weekend. Usually an Old Testament reading, sometimes referred to as the Hebrew scriptures, and then a New Testament reading followed by a Gospel Reading.
We believe that the Scriptures were divinely inspired. We believe that through these readings God speaks not only to the past, but to us the people of the present.
In a sense, we should be eagerly anticipating what God will be saying to us, to me, this weekend as we gather for Mass.
This weekend we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord… a good day to recall our own Baptisms – a very important day in our life. That day when our parents brought us to church, not just to check off another thing done:
- Baby born – check
- Baby fed – check
- Baby washed – check
- Baby dressed – check
- Baby baptized – check
- Baptism party – check
No, our parents wanted to pass on to us and through us to our children/our families, the gift of faith, the gift for our life here on earth and for eternal life.
Two years ago on this Feast, Pope Francis stressed the importance of both knowing and celebrating the day of our Baptism! Who among us remembers the day of our Baptism? (Anyone here today at Mass ???) If you know, great! If we do not, you got homework!
Pope Francis would remind us that our Baptism dates are as important as our birth dates! (Beloved sons and daughters of God)
On this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, I would call our attention to the Gospel, and the phrase, “a voice came from Heaven: You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.”
And at our own Baptisms, God says the same to us: “You are my beloved son/daughter, with you I am well pleased.”
Oh, yes, two years ago Pope Francis shared the “stupendous reality” of being children of God brings with it the responsibility to follow Jesus… To grow and grow and grow… In love of God, others, and to be Faithful Disciples of Jesus…” To be the face of Jesus!
At our Baptisms:
- We are anointed with holy oil (Chrism)
- We are garbed (dressed) in white
- We are given a lighted candle to keep the flame of faith burning brightly in our hearts.
Today’s Gospel reminds us that today is a good day to “check our baptismal candles and make sure they are still burning brightly…”