The Baptism of the Lord - Fr. Leo
Believing in Jesus Christ as the incarnate Son of God is the cornerstone of our faith.  As a human Jesus was baptized by John.  Then by the power of the Holy Spirit his divinity was revealed and announced by the Father’s voice who said: “You are by Beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

What brings us joy as we celebrate today is that the whole purpose in Jesus’ coming was to awaken in us an awareness of the living God. Jesus came to share our humanity so that we might share his divinity.  God, though Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, lives in us making us one with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  
Each one of us has been baptized with water and the Holy Spirit, so that what God says about Jesus may be said about us.  “You are my Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

As our faith grows we see God in all things, and over time it becomes clearer and clearer to us, that we are God’s beloved whom he loves beyond measure.  

My prayer for all of us is a desire that we will each know God’s love in our hearts;  that beyond words and feelings we will know without doubt our unity with God in all things. A unity that only silence can communicate.

We may pray: “Come Holy Spirit and in our hearts take up thy rest. Teach us to surrender all to you and to trust you have us in the palm of your hand.  Help us to love you in return.  Help us not to hold anything back, but to give all our mind, body, and soul, to you from whom they came. When we rise each day, and on that final day, may we hear your voice in the ground of our being.”  
“You are blessed says the Lord, inherit the kingdom prepared for from the foundation of the world.”