The Baptism of the Lord closes the Christmas season. The next day begins the First Week of Ordinary Time, Lent following in five weeks on Feb. 17. The Christmas season is full of theophanies, i.e., ...

But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” — Matthew 3:14 It’s a good question: Why did Jesus Christ need to be baptized? That’s basically the question ...

To many Christians the baptism of Jesus seems almost as much of an enigma as it did to the Baptist. It serves as a precedent for our own baptism. It also forms an introduction to Christ’s ministry.

Today we hear Luke’s account of Jesus’ baptism. The surrounding passages can help to contextualize the Gospel and reflect on its significance as the birth of Jesus’ public ministry. The beginning of ...

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). This verse is from the Gospel of Matthew, one of the three synoptic Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible, and is about the ...

On the banks of the Jordan River where the Bible says Jesus was baptized, 15-foot-high reeds rustle in the wind. The site on the Jordanian side of the river looks much like the New Testament describes ...

I love the narrative of our Lord’s baptism. From John’s reaction to Jesus’ approach to the decent of the Dove and the Father’s proclamation, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased,” it ...

My dad grew up with two relatives who were eccentric, to say the least. One was an uncle who showed up periodically to sleep on the front porch — often deciding that clothing was an unnecessary ...

Just as Jesus’ baptism launched his public ministry, our own baptisms ordinate us to a life of humble obedience and costly service. All four Gospels tell the story of Jesus’ baptism, as if every ...

Remember the day of your baptism? It's highly unlikely, but your parents and godparents and an assortment of relatives probably do. Perhaps they remember the event itself, or the party, or something ...