The Baptism of the Lord

“This is what John the Baptist proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” -Mark 1:7-11

Excerpt from: The Morning Offering
The Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord is closely connected with the Solemnity of the Epiphany; both are biblical manifestations of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. On the occasion of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River at the hands of St. John the Baptist, the voice of God was audibly heard to declare to the gathered crowd, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” At his baptism, Jesus sanctified the earth’s waters, giving water the power to beget sons of God through the Sacrament of Baptism. Through the cleansing waters of baptism, Jesus heals our sinful nature and clothes us with his own Divine life, bringing us into the Kingdom of God. It is by imitating Our Lord in his Baptism that a person becomes a Christian, the first sacrament of initiation into the Church. The feast of the Baptism of the Lord marks the end of the Christmas season on the new liturgical calendar.

Saint Apollinaris Claudius, pray for us.

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Jesus, I trust in you!