From the Heart of the Shepherd

From the bulletin for The Baptism of the Lord (2026 January 11)

Jan 12 - Baptism of the Lord

With a foot in both the season of Christmas and Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord marks the public inauguration of His saving mission. On the one hand, it’s a revelation-event, of something that has been true from all eternity: the Father acknowledges Jesus as His well-beloved Son, the apple of His eye, as it were. On the other, there is something new here: in His humanity, Jesus is anointed with the fullness of the Spirit, who will henceforth be active in His life in a new and astounding way. 

Having just liturgically re-lived Our Lord’s entrance into this world, and still at the top of a new calendar year, it’s a good time to remind us that we ourselves have also been made beloved sons in the Son; we too have received that selfsame Spirit, and have been anointed in order to participate in that same saving mission. 

At next Saturday’s Parish Soirée, I plan to give my annual State of the Parish Address. It’s meant to be much more than a speech to “stakeholders.” It’s a chance for all of us who are committed to living out our mission as Christians as members of the Church of Saint Mark–and therefore, to “living and sharing Christ’s call to holiness” here in Merriam Park and beyond–to reflect on how that’s going. Blessings and challenges; successes and tasks still to be accomplished; hopefully, something of a vision for the year ahead and, God willing, beyond. If I didn’t have to still draft it and give it, I would be looking forward to it with eager anticipation!

Whatever the word that will be spoken, however, God grant that afterwards we too find ourselves “driven by the Spirit”… perhaps not into the desert to be tempted, but certainly to embark upon the mission “ever ancient, ever new” with renewed gusto, as “one strong family united in Christ.” 

In the “logic” of the parish calendar, January provides something of a lull, a pause in which we can reflect a moment and gather strength before plunging into the holy season of Lent, which always seems to bring with it a flurry of activity that doesn’t let up until late June. What is the point of all that busyness? After the worship of God, it ought to be nothing less than what is expressed in Our Lord’s commentary on His own baptism, given some weeks later in his first “sermon” following the event: “The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; He has sent me to bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD…” (Is 61:1-2). 

It’s significant that Jesus speaks those words in the synagogue in which He grew up. To the people with whom He grew up. His mother was surely there in the congregation, praying that their people would be open to the Message (perhaps, thanks to her prayers, at least a handful were!). For though “no prophet is accepted in his native place,” nevertheless each of us is called to exercise our Christic mission in our “native habitat,” that is to say, in our households and neighborhoods, in the places where we study or work, and in general wherever the duties of our state carry us. With Mary praying too on our behalf, perhaps at least a few of those who behold our witness will be open to the Word we are called to proclaim!

I write these words on the third day of the Priest Conference that the St. Paul Center of Biblical Theology has put on for about 200 priests from all over the country and world, including all the priests of PES-USA. God willing, I’ll be coming back to the parish with a few ideas to share, especially in the Easter Bible study this spring. For now, I will limit myself to these musings, and to remembering that in these times of so much tumult and darkness, God wishes to be Light and Peace for the nations through the members of His Son, Christ, Our Lord.

From the Heart of the Shepherd: The Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph