Dear Friends in Christ,
Today we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord and it is also the end of the Christmas Season. The truth is that our celebration of Christmas really never ends. The foundation of our faith is the Incarnation of God as the person of Jesus Christ. Everything we do and celebrate in our faith begins with this truth. It is similar to our celebration of Easter; the joy of that day never really ends either. Christ rising from the dead is the central mystery we celebrate at every Eucharist, and it is the hope that sustains us every day of our lives, till we experience the eternal life Jesus won for us. There is yet another celebration in the Church that never ends and that is Pentecost, the birthday of the Church and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Every Sacrament we celebrate and all the good we do as a Church comes through the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. These are the big three celebrations of the Church’s Liturgical year: Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.
I pray that every day we may remember and celebrate the fact that the Word of God became flesh and was born into our world, that Jesus died for us and was raised from the dead to save us from sin and death, and that God sent the Holy Spirit to inspire and help us to share the Good News of God’s love for all the world.
God Bless you!
Fr. Matt
