This weekend we celebrate the Baptism of
the Lord.
John preached a Baptism of repentance for
the forgiveness of sins. Why did Jesus, the sinless one, submit himself to John
the Baptist? In the humble submission we see a foreshadowing of the “Baptism”
of his bloody death upon the cross. Jesus’ Baptism is the acceptance and the
beginning of his mission as God’s suffering servant. He allowed himself to be
numbered among sinners. Jesus submitted himself entirely to His father’s will.
Out of love he consented to this Baptism of death for the remission of our
sins. Do we know the joy of trust and submission to God?
The father proclaimed His entire delight in
his Son and spoke audibly for all to hear. The Holy Spirit, too, was present as
he anointed Jesus for His ministry which began that day as he rose from the
waters of the Jordan river. Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all who
come to believe in Him. At His Baptism, the heavens were opened and the waters
were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, signifying the
beginning of a new creation.
I hope you enjoyed our Christmas
celebrations, activities and events. Many thanks to all those who helped with
our tree blessing and lighting, our Caring and Sharing day, the evening with
Santa from the Jesse Tree to the wonderful Liturgies we celebrated, I hope that
you had a fruitful spiritual experience. These celebrations just don't happen.
Much preparation takes place behind the scenes many months in advance by so
many people. As most of you know, all of our decorations were lost in the flood
of last July. Therefore, we had to purchase everything all over again. Many
thanks to those who shopped for over 2 weeks looking for sales and the best
value. What you see is the result of much work, shopping and decorating to
beautify our worship space for this great feast. Many thanks to Mike and
Jennifer Pirri of the Apple Market for donating all the flowers. Your
generosity goes above and beyond! In terms of our liturgical celebrations, I
would like to thank our altar servers, ministers of the Word, ministers of the
Eucharist, ministers of Welcome, our musicians and visiting priest, Fr, Milton.
If you were at the 5 pm Mass on Christmas Eve, you will know that we have the
best actors, angles and trumpet players in town. Under the direction of
Jennifer Vandecoevering, our young people did a fabulous job!! I would also
like to take this opportunity to thank all of you, not only for your
encouragement and support throughout the year, but, in particular, for your generosity
to me, personally, and to the parish, this Christmas.
I would like to welcome the couples
enrolled in our Marriage Preparation Program for 2014. We pray that the Holy
Spirit will guide you as you come to know your future spouse in a more profound
way. As a parish, we pray for you that your forthcoming marriage will be
blessed by the grace of God.I look forward to our second session next Friday
and Saturday.
Fr. Phil
