Boudreaux said, "Mai, Clotilde, they on sale, only $10 for a whole case – 24 cans!"

"Put them back," said Clotilde, "we can't afford them."

"But Clotilde, they only $10!"

"Shut up Boudreaux."

A few aisles further, Clotilde picked up a $20 jar of face cream and puts it in the basket. "What do you think you're doing?" asked Boudreaux.

"Its my face cream, Boudreaux," she said, "It makes me look beautiful for you."

Boudreaux said, "So does 24 cans of Budweiser and its half the price!"

Suppose you and I had never heard about Jesus Christ, but we wanted to know about God. How would we go about it? It would be difficult. I mean, can clay describe its potter? Can fish do justice to the one who changes the water in their aquarium? How can a tiny brain that cannot understand electricity or produce a cure for the common cold ever hope to comprehend the wonder of the eternal Creator God? We cannot. Fortunately, we do not have to. Why? Because God came to us. As folks in business would say, that’s the bottom line my friend, when it comes to Christmas. God has come to us!

He came to a humble maiden in an obscure village named Nazareth. Not to the philosophers or the Caesars or to the mighty warlords, but to a humble maiden. How extraordinary. An angel told this maiden that she would bear a child. God would not be content to communicate with his creation by satellite or by skywriting. He would actually become one of us. That is mind boggling. Have we all heard the story so often that we have forgotten what it is really saying?

I don't know what you find most impressive in the Christmas story. Maybe it's Christ's birth to a virgin. That is impressive, but, since God only has to speak to create life, that seems to me to be only a minor part of the Christmas story. Maybe what impresses you is the star that shone over the stable or the angels that sang for the shepherds. But to a God who created the whole universe, that, too, is just a minor part of the Christmas story. All of these have their place, of course. But to me, the real miracle of Christmas is the outpouring of love this season of the year always produces. Yes, the love of God for us. But, wait, there is more.

Something happens to people when they are exposed to the story of the baby in the manger. Historians tell us that guns have fallen silent on Christmas Day in the midst of fierce battles. People whose hearts are cold and indifferent toward the poor and the downcast, suddenly feel the urge to drop money in a Salvation Army kettle. People who have ignored Christ all year long, find their way to a Christmas Eve service where their hearts are touched once again by this most beautiful of stories. Something happens to us at Christmas. Something magical, something miraculous.

In the December 1995 issue of Guideposts, Elizabeth King English tells of a very special Christmas that she once experienced. This is a true story. The year was 1949. She and her husband Herman owned an appliance store that sold just about everything a person could need in their home. They also sold a number of smaller things, such as toys. In those days, appliance stores sold toys, too. That particular Christmas, they had practically sold out of their toys.

Elizabeth had been uneasy about leaving the shop that Christmas Eve because one package on lay-away had not been claimed yet. It might not have been anything important, but on the other hand, it might be some child's only gift. So Elizabeth and Herman stayed open as long as they could, but finally they decided to close the store and head home.

The next day, Christmas day, Elizabeth couldn't seem to get into the Christmas spirit. She cleaned a little around the house, but she felt restless. Strangely enough, she began to get the urge to go to the store that morning. Now Herman and Elizabeth never opened the store on Christmas, and the weather outside was a freezing mix of snow and sleet, but still Elizabeth felt drawn to go to the store. After an hour, Elizabeth gave up fighting the urge and told Herman she was going down to the store. He wasn't very encouraging, but she had made up her mind.

As Elizabeth slid along the snowy sidewalks to the store, her numb body mocked the urgent sensation she had about that day. But as she got to the store, she noticed two small boys, about six and nine years old, standing in front of the store. The little fellows got very excited when they saw Elizabeth coming. They were two little African_American children, and they were almost frozen. The younger one was crying, but he stopped when he saw Elizabeth. When Elizabeth scolded them for being out in the cold, they explained that they had been waiting for her.

The older boy explained to Elizabeth that his younger brother didn't get anything for Christmas, and so they had come there to get the little boy, Jimmy, some skates. He pulled out three dollars and placed them in front of her. Sadly, Elizabeth explained to them that she had sold almost all the toys in the store, and they were out of skates. But as she glanced around the store, she noticed the lone package on the lay-away shelf. She walked over and ripped off the wrapping to find that it contained a pair of child's skates! Jimmy reached for them and tried them on. They fit perfectly. When the boys tried to pay Elizabeth for the skates, she told them to use their money for a couple of pairs of good gloves instead. The boys grinned in amazement at this gift of free skates.

After the children were all warm, Elizabeth began to close up the shop again. She remarked to the boys that it was so lucky they had not frozen out there that morning. She asked, ". . . how did you boys know I would come?" The older boy answered, "I knew you would come. I asked Jesus to send you." Elizabeth went home to her family, but now she was in the Christmas spirit.

This is a season of miracles, isn't it? It is also a season for stories. We’ve all heard those magical Christmas tales which also happen to be true.

There was a story in the newspapers sometime back. Eight_year old Mark Amador's letter to Santa laid it on the line, "My Mom needs help bad! . . . "

His tale of woes ran from his mother's unemployment to selling almost everything the family had to get food. "I want clothes and food for us to last 3 months," wrote Mark. "Hope my Mom will have a job by then."

Tucson, Arizona, postal workers were jarred with his story and came up with a deluge of presents, from clothing and toys to food for Mark, his two older brothers and their mother, Abigail.

But there's more. Mark confided to Santa that he tried to be good at school but had to contend with classmates who ridiculed his ears, which stuck out at right angles.

Dr. Boyd Burkhardt, plastic surgeon, was asked by his nurse and administrator, Lu Banks, if he would be willing to fix an 8_year_old boy's ears for nothing. "Sure," Burkhardt said. "That's good," Banks said, "because Channel 13 is on the line." Mark received a limousine ride to the operation!

Abigail Amador, Mark's mother, was astounded by the response to Marks' letter both by the postal workers and Dr. Burkhardt. ". . . it was a Godsend," she said. "Things like this never happen to us . . . ." But what she did not understand was that it was Christmas! And Christmas is a time for miracles. Christmas is a time for stories.

It was two weeks before Christmas 1995, and Doris Young, 41, an unemployed single mother living in Dallas, was sick with grief. Her 6_month_old son, Rayfus, had just died from sudden infant death syndrome; and the funeral home wouldn't bury him until she could come up with the $700 fee.

Heather Hoffman, a social worker at Rayfus's day_care center, was doing her best to help. "I made dozens of phone calls to the county, Social Security but no one had an emergency fund for funerals," she says. Then one of Hoffman's coworkers put in a call to a local officer who frequently urged neighborhood residents to call her if they ever needed anything.

The officer was not on duty, said Sergeant Anthony Williams of the Youth and Family Crimes Unit. But as soon as he heard about Young's plight, he sent out an alert to patrol cars citywide. Almost immediately, officers began showing up at his police station, handing over five, ten, even twenty_dollar bills. Within hours, Williams had collected the needed money and an additional $300, including cash from his own pocket. "Maybe my son won't get that special toy for Christmas, but this was a child who would never see Christmas," says Williams.

Young cried when Hoffman called to tell her the news. "I didn't know what I was going to do," she says. "I would have been lost without those officers."

Maybe such stories don't impress you. But they impress me. This is what Christmas is all about. God has reached into space and time to show us the meaning of love. And today, two thousand years later, the ripples of love first born in the manger of Bethlehem, still radiate out into the world.

From time to time we hear someone say, "Wouldn't it be great if it could be Christmas all year long." Surprise! That was God's intent. That is why God invaded our planet and gave us the gift of God's Son. There is only one thing that stands in the way of celebrating Christmas all year long. You and I. If you and I lived the way Christ intends for us to live if we lived out on a daily basis the love, compassion and charity that are part and parcel of this special season the world would be changed.

The world is waiting for the people of God to live out what we say we believe: That Jesus Christ is the hope of the world; that living the Christ life – the life of love and sacrifice and self_giving is the only ultimate way that humanity can be saved. When Christmas lives in our hearts, then we will have at least made a beginning to spreading the spirit of Christmas to the entire world and not just at one time of the year but all year, every year. Could it happen? Could it really happen? Hey, if you believe in miracles, it is a cinch.

God came to a humble maiden in an obscure village called Nazareth. He told her that she would bear a child. That child would be the hope of the world. And he is.

HOLY FAMILY
 
Gospel - Luke 2:22-40

Boudreaux was on his deathbed and he called for the funeral director. For his funeral, he had told the funeral director that he wanted to play his favorite Elvis song for Clotilde. It was the song that was playing the night they met. He said, "It’s the first song track on this CD and Boudreaux handed him the CD. What he wanted was the song: "Love me Tender." Unfortunately, Boudreaux handed the funeral director the wrong Elvis CD.

The day of the funeral Clotilde was sitting in her pew and the music began. Everyone stood as Elvis began to sing: "Return to Sender."

There was a church who had a misprint the music in their church bulletin. It read: "The choir will sing, "I Heard the Bills on Christmas Day." Now that Christmas is over, and we are standing on the other side of Christmas, for some of us, that means the Christmas bells WILL soon be turning to Christmas bills.

One man had a great idea for his children’s Christmas. He ordered the plans for a tree house from a mail-order catalogue. He received instead the plans for a sailboat. His letter of complaint to the company brought an apologetic reply which read in part: "While we regret the inconvenience this mistake must have caused you, it is probably nothing compared to that of the man who is out on a lake somewhere trying to sail your tree house."

Wasn’t Advent a wonderful season in our church. Talk of hope and love. Now we are on the "other side of Christmas." We enjoyed the special music, the lights, the decorations, the food and goodies, the gift giving and the gift receiving. Now, in a sense, it’s back to the real world.

Mary and Joseph had to get back to the real world, too. After our Savior’s birth, they couldn’t linger with the shepherds and the angels in the stable at Bethlehem. Unfortunately, it was a stark and cruel world they had to return to -- a world which brought a pregnant woman about to bear a child on a donkey for several days to the hometown of her husband in order to comply with a taxation decree. It was a world in which a mad tyrant could put to death all the infants in the region on the word of some astrologers. It was a world in which men could be suspended on crosses for the most minor of offenses. It was such a world that the Christ child was born.

I was riding a train once and was reading a book of Greek tragedies. I came across the story of a god who fell in love with a maiden, and came to visit her. But the god found that she had been in an accident, and was lying beside the road in a pool of blood. The god was repulsed at the sight of blood, and immediately winged his way back to Mount Olympus, where he could contemplate the human situation. This god was afraid of human suffering.

I looked out the window, watching the telephone poles pass by in the form of crosses and could not help contrasting the two: the pagan god and the Christian God. Our God is not afraid of human suffering. He’s been there himself. He’s not afraid of blood. He shed some Himself.

In our gospel, today, our man Simeon prophesied what lay ahead. Luke has jumped from our Christmas story to the day when they brought Jesus up to Jerusalem for the rite of purification in accordance with the Mosaic law. "Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: ‘This child is destined to be the downfall and rise of many in Israel, a sign that will be opposed -- and you yourself shall be pierced with a sword -- so that the thoughts of many hearts may be laid bare.’"

We already know the story, don’t we? You see, both Simeon and Anna knew that the plan of God was being worked out. As wonderful as Christmas is, it is only a small part of a much bigger drama -- the drama of redemption. Simeon saw that: "Now, Master, you can dismiss your servant in peace; you have fulfilled your word. My eyes have witnessed your saving deed displayed for all people to see. ..." Anna, the prophetess, saw it too. Luke tells us that from this day forward, she "talked about the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem." There would be no reason for Christmas if there were no other side. The manger speaks of the love of God, but not nearly as eloquently as does the cross.

Years ago, a missionary woman was serving in Korea. At the time, a young Korean woman was expecting a baby, and on Christmas Eve she went into labor. There was a major storm in progress, but the Korean woman knew she if she could just get to the home of the missionary, she would have the help she so desperately needed to bring her baby into the world. She put on her winter wraps and started out alone, on foot. She was several miles from home when her labor pains grew in frequency and intensity, and she knew she could not make it to her destination.

She got beneath an old bridge that afforded a bit of shelter. There, alone, in the middle of the night, she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. She immediately removed her coat and then, piece by piece, the rest of her clothing. Carefully, she wound every item around her baby until he looked like a cumbersome little cocoon. Then she fell asleep, too exhausted to do anything else.

The next morning brightly dawned, and the missionary woman awoke with a song in her heart. It was Christmas Day, and there were so many people she wanted to see. She packed the car and started on her way. A few miles down the road the engine sputtered, and the car finally stopped on the top of an old bridge. As the missionary opened the door to go for help, she thought she heard a baby crying. Following the sound, she went under the bridge where she found a tiny baby boy -- very hungry, but very much alive. Next to the infant lay his mother -- frozen.

The missionary picked up the baby and took him to her home. In time she was permitted to adopt the boy. As the years passed she told him of how his biological mother had given her life that he might live. Her son never tired of hearing the story, and he asked her to repeat it again and again.

On his twelfth birthday, Christmas day, he asked the missionary to take him to the burial place of his mother. When they arrived, there was snow on the ground, and he asked his missionary mother to wait while he went to the grave side alone. She watched her son as he trudged through the snow and ice, tears streaming down his cheeks. In amazement, she saw him slowly unbutton his coat, remove it, and gently lay it on the snowy grave. Next, he removed his shirt, trousers, shoes, and socks and carefully placed each item on the grave of his mother who had given her all for him.

The missionary could take it no longer and went to her son, placing her coat around his frail and naked body. Through his tears, she heard him as he asked, "Were you colder than this for me, Mother? Were you colder than this?" And he knew that she was.

The angels and shepherds and wise men and Mary and Joseph and the babe in the manger are only one part of the drama of redemption. They have little meaning, however, without the last act, when Jesus gave his all so that we could live. They have little meaning without the cross and the empty tomb.

There is heartache for us on the other side of Christmas. But there is also hope. Studies have shown that the suicide rate dips slightly right before the holidays. On Christmas Day, there are an average of 50 fewer suicides than on a normal day, according to a survey by two university of California researchers. Some medical experts believe this is because many people hope that the magic of the season will take away their troubles. However, the rate increases a bit just after the holidays. The temporary lifting of spirits, that season of love and good cheer, dissipates on the other side of Christmas.

How sad! If people could only see our hope is not in Jingle Bells, or holly, or mistletoe, but in a God who loves us enough to take our sufferings upon Himself. That is the real hope. That is the real joy. Simeon knew that. So did Anna. A sword might pierce Mary’s soul, but it is the sword of God’s eternal purpose. That purpose is that you and I and all creation would know the salvation and the love of God.

EPIPHANY

Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6 and Matthew 2:1-12

After T-Boy and T-Girl left home on their own, Boudreaux was resting next to Clotilde on the couch with his head in her lap. Clotilde carefully removed his glasses. "You know, honey," Clotilde said sweetly, "Without your glasses you look like the same handsome young man I married."

"Clotilde, my darlin’," replied Boudreaux, "Without my glasses, you still look pretty good too!"

Maybe Clotilde should have turned a light on. There is nothing like the Feast of the Epiphany to highlight the theme of "light." It is found in each reading. While January brings us a bleak month and our festivities of Christmas is over, Epiphany brings us the light.

Epiphany celebrates the arrival of the Magi (or as we call them, the "Wise Men") to visit Jesus. But the day has always been overshadowed by Christmas. The time between Christmas and Epiphany is called the "12 days of Christmas." Most people think that the 12 days before Christmas is what the song is referring to. In fact, in many countries, Epiphany is the day celebrated as "little Christmas."

"Epiphany derives from the Greek word meaning "manifestation" or "to come forth." By that, the Church means the revealing of Christ to the Gentile world. And the first Gentiles to acknowledge Jesus as the "king of the Jews" were, in fact, the Magi.

While most crib scenes show the shepherds and the "Wise Men" worshiping Jesus together in the stable, and that is how we all put them in our scene, it is actually more likely that the Magi arrived as much as two years later, when Joseph and Mary had by that time found other lodging. Here we go again, changing your idea of how these Bible stories happened, but it is important for us to have a mature spirituality. For dating the visit of the Magi, remember that they didn’t leave their home country – Persia (which is Iraq today) until they saw the star, and their only means of travel would have been a camel, donkey or horse. Also, it is significant that after the Wise men visited Herod, Herod ordered the slaughter of all males infants in and around Bethlehem, two years old and younger. So even though we put the Wise Men in the crib scene in the cave, they arrived much later.

The Epiphany observance may have been introduced by the church in Egypt to replace the pagan celebration of the birth of light at the winter solstice. In any case, on this day of Epiphany, our eyes are drawn heavenward to the star of Bethlehem.

So we celebrate a time of brightness that comes not just for us, here, but for the whole world. The drama of this day is the arrival of the Wise Men following the star – foreigners who saw the glory of God from far away.

These Magi were probably Zoroastrian astronomers from Persia. Their religion was what we call dualistic – that means that for them body and spirit were separate. Today we call this Platonic (or from Plato). What was spiritual was good, and what was physical was evil. They studied the heavens because they believed that what was happening in the heavens were signs of what would happen on earth. And the message they received from the heavens must have knocked their socks off; because the sign they saw in the heavens pointed them to a human being who was divine. Something physical and good was happening at the same time!

Yet, instead of dismissing it as contradictory to their belief system, they boldly followed the sign to find this child.

Meanwhile, back in the land of Israel, where the Jewish people believed that the body and spirit are one and inseparable and that God created human beings and called them good, they were looking for a physical Messiah who would come to establish a new nation, saving people not only physically but also spiritually. What’s more, this savior would come to redeem not only Israel but the whole world.

The amazing pilgrimage of the foreigners from Persia to worship and honor this king signaled the fulfillment of this prophecy.

Even though Jesus has come, today we still search for a savior. We scour the heavens for sign telling us how we got here. We analyze the human body and mind in order to figure out what makes us tick. We even map our genes to find out why we are the way we are.

We look for meaning everywhere we go. And most of us, at one time or another, have had an inspiration – a ray of understanding. But just at that moment, when we fall on our knees to express our awe and wonder at God’s presence in our lives, God moves in another direction. Just when we want to settle down and relax in our faith, God sends us another course.

This is a little disconcerting for us. For we are creatures of routine, of habit, of ritual, of tradition. In fact, it is sometimes the tradition, the ritual and the habit, the routine that gives us meaning in our lives. We look for order, for connection, for logic. But what God gives us is surprises. Just when we think we have our feet firmly planted, standing on the promises, God pulls the rug out from under our feet.

The Wise Men, looking for a king, logically went to the palace of the reigning king. You go to royalty to look for royalty. But the child king was not there.

Even though King Herod instructed the Wise men to find the child for him, saying he wished to worship the child also, God changed the course of the Wise men, telling them to go home by another way.

God’s way is not the course of routine, of ritual, of tradition, of habit. And if we follow God’s will, chances are, our lives won’t take a logical course.

The logical course would have left Abraham enjoying his wealth and comfort in Mesopotamia. But God called him to go to Canaan.

The logical course for Sarah was to accept barrenness as her lot in life; but now, God called her to bear a child at the age of 90.

The logical course for Moses would have been for him to continue to tend the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro in the land of Midian. Yet God led Moses to face the Pharaoh and move the children of Israel to the Sea of Reeds.

The logical course for Ruth would be for her to return to Moab to her family after her husband died. But God called her to remain with Naomi, to go to a foreign land with a bitter and demoralized old woman. By following God’s lead, Ruth was to become the great grandmother of King David.

The logical course for Joseph would have been to divorce Mary. But God called Joseph to wed Mary, and give the child a house and a lineage.

The logical course for the Wise Men would be to stay put in Persia; but God’s course took them on a difficult journey to the tiny country of Israel.

The logical course would be to find a child king in a palace, but they were led to find the child in a house in Bethlehem.

It might appear that God was toying with all these people, but Matthew says, there was a reason for everything. We might think God toys with our lives, but there is a reason.

We have a notion of the way life is supposed to be; the course we are supposed to take. And when our plans are thrown awry, we cry out, "not fair." And indeed, it may not be fair, if all we’re going by is our own sense of logic.

But we ought to expect that God will send us on other courses, too. Courses we never would have chosen for ourselves. Yet, when we follow God’s lead by faith, even the most miserable experience can give meaning and purpose.

Each day is part of your journey to fulfill the course God sets before you. And if you follow, each day will be a journey in faith, in which you will find yourself closer to God.

This journey is not just for individuals. God has called communities, nations and the church. So indeed God calls us, as a church to reach beyond ourselves.

Listen to the angels and follow God’s course for your lives. For God’s way is to grow by serving others. Abraham moved his family and flocks to the promised land; Sarah raised a child when she was in her old age. Moses freed his people from slavery. Ruth followed her mother-in-law to Israel. Joseph and Mary went to great lengths to protect and raise Jesus. The Wise men left home to worship a baby.

Listen for the course God wants YOU to take, and celebrate that course as an adventure as you begin your journey into this new year.

BAPTISM OF THE LORD

Gospel - Mark 1:7-11

Boudreaux had a litter of golden retriever puppies and brought them to the veterinary clinic for inoculations and worming. As the look_alike pups squirmed over and under one another in their box, the vet realized it would be very difficult to tell the treated ones from the rest. So he turned on the water faucet, wet his fingers. Each time he finished with a pup, he moistened each little dog's head.

After the fourth puppy, he noticed his Boudreaux, who had been very talkative until that point, had grown silent. As he wet the last pup's head, Boudreaux leaned forward and whispered, "Mai, Doctor, I didn't know they had to be baptized, too."

In a CCD classes, a group of children were studying infant baptism. Their CCD teacher asked, "Why do we use water in baptisms?" One youngster piped up and said, "To make the baby's hair grow."

Another time, during a baptism, a little girl watched quietly and intently as the I baptized her little brother. But when the ceremony reached the pouring of water, the little girl became nervous. She edged up to the baptismal font and whispered, "And wash behind his ears too, Father."

Today, we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. Something very interesting. In the all three Synoptic gospels, the baptism of Jesus is found immediately before the temptation scene and at the beginning of his public life. John the Baptist is preaching a baptism of repentance and water. John, however, is also the one who proclaims, "One more powerful than I is to come after me. I am not fit to stoop and untie his sandal straps. I have baptized you in water; he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit."

As Jesus is baptized by John, we hear a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son. My favor rests on him." Because Jesus is called to a public witness of God’s presence among all people, he is anointed by the Holy Spirit. It is by that Spirit he is sent into the desert and among God’s people with a mission to proclaim the good news. In presenting the baptism of Jesus, the gospel writers focus on his being called by God. "This is my beloved Son. My favor rests on him."

As Christians, how do we view baptism? As a special ceremony for babies? As a cute ceremony in which we get a nanan and perin? As a cleansing, a taking away of original sin? As a guarantee of heaven? As something that makes one a Catholic?

If we thought of baptism more as an adult faith commitment, then we might experience the event of this reading from Mark as happening in our community today. The voice comes from heaven and speaks to each of us saying: "You are my beloved. On you my favor rests." Through the baptism of Jesus, we are challenged to focus on the real meaning of this sacrament and, perhaps, renew our own baptismal promises with a deeper commitment. Jesus was baptized with the water and the Holy Spirit, and then sent forth on his mission. So are we.

A true story. Several years ago, the St. Charles Avenue Christian Church in New Orleans, which is affiliated with the Disciples of Christ denomination, had a serious fire in the sanctuary. In the pre_dawn darkness after the fire was extinguished the assistant fire chief, a Roman Catholic, wandered into the church to inspect the damage to the ceiling. Looking upward with his flashlight he failed to notice where he was stepping. Suddenly he tripped over something on the floor and fell into the church's baptistry. Ironically it was filled with water from the fire hoses.

Pulling himself out, the assistant fire chief stumbled and sputtered into the street. He noticed the fire department chaplain coming by and he asked, "Father, who are those people in there?" The chaplain replied, "They're the Disciples of Christ." The chief, still soaked from his plunge into the baptistry, responded, "Well Father, I don't know anything about them but it looks like I'm one of them now."

In the fourth chapter of Luke, Jesus refers to this quote from Isaiah. "I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for all nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out the prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness." (Cf. Is. 43:6-7). Jesus was sent to bring the good news -- to make the love of God alive and present to the people -- to bring them freedom and light.

Baptism’s challenge is the same for us. We are the beloved, and God’s favor rests on us. We are called by our baptism to continue the mission of Jesus -- to proclaim the good news to God’s people, to bring freedom to those who are held captive, be it by fear, by low self-image, or by the political and social systems of our day. We are called to give sight to the blind and to heal the wounded and brokenhearted.

Like Jesus, we do this because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit we received when we were baptized. Like Jesus, we are compelled to carry out the mission because we are loved and favored by God. Like Jesus, we proclaim the good news to others using our own gifts and talents. Baptism seals the covenant of our natural birth. Baptism affirms who we are and empowers us in the Spirit.

As we reflect on the baptism of Jesus, let us renew and celebrate our own baptism and accept the challenge of our call to carry on the mission of Jesus. In this Eucharist, as in every Eucharist, we give thanks -- we are fed -- we are sent forth.

There was a missionary who worked among Muslim people in Pakistan. The first time he baptized a convert from Islam to Christianity the young man bolted out of the water and yelled "Hallelujah!" Then he ran to his friends who had witnessed the baptism, joined hands with them, and wildly danced for joy. Onlookers were sure that such partying antics are always a part of Christian baptism. So now what that first new Christian in that town in Pakistan did that day, has become a practice followed by every new Christian who is baptized. They shout "Hallelujah!"; they join hands with their friends and dance in the streets.

Why shouldn't we shout and dance for joy? Just as the Spirit of God came upon Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan River, so, too, the same Spirit of God came upon us at our baptism. A child of God has come from darkness to light, from despair to hope and grace.

Jesus’ baptism was the beginning of his public ministry. For Jesus, his baptism was the beginning of his challenging the religious leaders -- the scribes and the Pharisees. It was a beginning which would ultimately lead to the cross. Our baptism is the beginning of our public ministry as well. We must be willing to be empowered by the Spirit to be a public sign, an active reality of Christ in the world.

To be a baptized Christian and never to practice it in our daily lives, is like having a law degree and yet never practice law. It is like owning a set of tools and equipment, and yet never building anything. Beginnings can be painful and even frightening. But unless we begin, we will fail to be who we are as baptized Christians. We will fail to use what we have been given at the time of baptism. We will fail to accomplish what God has called us to do through our baptism.

It is the end of the Christmas season, but more importantly, it is a new beginning. Let this beginning in the life of Christ be a new beginning in your Christian life. Be renewed in the baptismal waters to publicly, actively, fervently be Christ in your world today.


Second Sunday, Ordinary Time

Gospel - John 1:35-42- John 1:35-42

Clotilde was giving instructions to her three children as she sent them to church. She asked, "Do you understand why is it necessary to be quiet in church?"