“Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3.1)
As we
continue our theme of Theophany, today we hear John the Baptist’s call to us
from the wilderness. Many answered this call and went out to John and were
baptized, “confessing their sins.” Have you responded yet? Have you gone out
into the desert and heard the message of the Kingdom of Heaven? The Feast of
Theophany was one of the original days for baptism in the ancient Church, imitating
Christ’s baptism. Since baptism is a “once only” event in our Faith, how can we
relive that moment when we joined Christ? The Church offers the “Great Blessing
of the Waters” as part of our celebration of Theophany. We actually no longer celebrate
baptisms on this day, but with the Great Blessing of the Waters, we can each
rededicate our lives to Christ. Many of the prayers from the Great Blessing of
the Waters are taken from the Baptism service. Once the water has been blessed,
we drink it, we sprinkle the Church with it, we sprinkle our homes with it, and
we sprinkle our cars, offices, crops, livestock, and anything that is a part of
our life with it. In the sprinkling of Holy Water, we ask God to bring the
Kingdom of Heaven into our entire life and rescue us from the desert of the
world. If only we had eleven pipers piping so more people could hear the call
to follow Christ! I know….YOU be the piper!
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