Today
the Church begins to look ahead to Theophany, the Baptism of Our Lord.
Theophany is one of those Feasts that is significant enough to have celebration
“ramp up” over several days. In the Gospel for today, Jesus tells Nicodemus
that we must be baptized when He says,
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (John 3.5)
I
appreciate how the Church identifies readings which, while not directly
associated with a Feast, nonetheless reflect the character of the Feast. Since
Theophany is the Feast of the Baptism of Christ, the Church assigns readings
associated with Baptism and water. Each day the references become more
associated with the Feast itself until, on Monday, we will celebrate and here
the Gospel of His Baptism. Then we extend this celebration with the “House
Blessing Season” which is the continuation of the Blessing of the Waters INTO
each home of the Parish. By the end of January, we have not only celebrated
Christ’s Baptism, we have linked our home to the Church.
What a
GREAT way to start the year!
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