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John the Baptist was a significant character during Advent, and he reappears again here to close this season of Christmas.

Juan el Bautista fue un personaje significativo durante el Adviento, y ahora reaparece de nuevo aquí para cerrar la temporada de Navidad.

Today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord marks the end of the Christmas season. Except for Easter, the Baptism of the Lord is our oldest liturgical feast, going back to the first years of the second century. It has always been considered to be a primary feast in the church calendar, one which expresses both the Trinitarian and cosmic order of our salvation.

In the story we read in John’s gospel today both the Baptist and Jesus are baptizing at the same time, Jesus in Judea, and John in Aenon. It appears that a competition is brewing provoking a dispute between John’s disciples and a certain Jewish leader (Nicodemus?). Apparently, Jesus is attracting more followers than John, even though he himself did not actually baptize, likely leaving that ministry to the disciples acting under his agency and his authority (John 4:2). In any case, John once again gives testimony to his role: “I am the one who has been sent to go before him. No one can have anything except what is given him from heaven.” John’s response is simple, sincere, courageous, and visionary.

Today, January 7th, we continue our reflection on what Epiphany means for us in our present time. How is God’s light shining on us and through us so that others see the light of Christ shining in our words and actions. This is the way we witness to our faith, how we respond to the needs of others. In the Gospel from Luke, 5:12-16, Jesus meets a man full of leprosy who pleads, ‘Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.’ Lepers were excluded from all society, especially from the worshiping community. Jesus knows that if he even touches him, he himself will become unclean. It is a risk for Jesus to respond, but he decides to break the law to heal this man. He responds and touches him with love and healing. What a witness! Jesus also shows respect for the law by telling the man to show himself to the priest that he has been healed.

We can feel the presence of God at intense, important moments that we record and remember: our baptism, first holy communion, first profession of vows, ordination. Each liturgical year is also marked with intense moments when we experience the love of God: the Sacred Triduum, Pentecost, and of course, Christmas. We can zoom in even more to each week: Sunday, the day of the Lord, is marked by the Holy Eucharist that commemorates Jesus’ Resurrection. Like mountains, these are high points: visible, memorable moments around which we can orient our lives.

Following Epiphany, it’s no surprise we hear stories of Jesus’ power. Today, he walks on water. When Jesus saw the disciples rowing against a hard wind he set out across the waves, I would presume, to rescue them. Then we encounter a curious detail: “He meant to pass them by.” Maybe he intended for them to finish the crossing on their own power while he cheered them on. Whatever the plan, when the disciples caught sight of Jesus, they thought it was a ghost and the were not just afraid, they were terrified. Jesus quickly changed course calling out “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” He jumped in the boat with them, and the wind died down.

Today, John teaches us that the love of God is revealed to us in the giving of Christ Jesus to the world so that we might have life through Him. And not just ordinary life, but Divine Life by grace. It is the nature of this divine love that it be nourishing and lifegiving, and when it is shared, it is only amplified and never diminished or lost.

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum… so that what had been said through Isaiah might be fulfilled …the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death a light has risen.

Epiphanies abound in great literature. Characters discover a fortitude they never knew they had. Poets lose themselves in the beauties of the created world. Saving secrets are revealed, and the works of darkness are brought into the light.

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. There is a Greek term for this title for the Blessed Mother that calls her “Theotókos,” literally translated as “God bearer” which recognizes and honors Mary as the Mother of God – Jesus’ mother. Historically speaking, this came from a great controversy in the Fifth Century. In the year 431 AD, the Council of Ephesus bestowed this title, Theotókos, upon the Blessed Mother calling attention not only to Mary but more so to her son Jesus, who has both a Divine and a Human nature.

On this last day of 2021, we reflect on the beginning of the Gospel of John, the Prologue which recounts that, before all creation, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Today we are celebrating the seventh day of the Octave of Christmas, in which we continue to contemplate the Incarnation, because to do so is to enter the very mystery of our salvation.

Dear Anna, You are an honored prophetess and holy model. Your lifestyle, so different from ours. It seems that your God journey turned quite radical after the death of your husband. With a heavy, grieving heart you entered the temple and found comfort there.

Sight. Our eyes can give us the gift of sight. Some of us have considerably better sight than others. Others have no sight at all. Glasses, contact lenses, or surgeries can help improve our vision, but it is ultimately out of our complete control. We cannot ask the impossible from our eyes. The eyes of our soul are different. We train them to notice God’s goodness in what surrounds us. Over time we develop a gift of sight that increasingly helps us to see God at work in our lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters who surround us.

From the earliest moments of our life stretching to even when we were taking shape in our mother’s womb, we were already beginning to receive information through our senses, first through touch and then through the other senses as we begin to develop. The moment we are born into this world, most of us have access to our five senses and we come to know and understand this world that we live in. Our senses are such an integral part of who we are that without them, navigating the world around us becomes challenging. Hear these words from the letter of St. John:

With the song of the angels still echoing in our hearts, carols still being sung, and Christmas greetings still being exchanged, we’re brought up short with today’s gospel relaying the story of the massacre of the innocent children of Bethlehem, killed because a politician, King Herod, feared a young child would usurp his power. That young child survived because his parents paid attention to a dream and escaped to Egypt. Do you imagine that they heard “the sobbing and loud lamentation of Ramah, of Rachel weeping for her children” as they crossed the border into safety? As we listen to this story, we might shake our heads at the insanity of the massacre and wonder how could someone do such a thing as to kill young, innocent children?

Mary, Joseph and child Jesus had made the long journey with extended family and friends. On the first day heading back home to Nazareth the parents were suddenly aware that Jesus was not with them in the caravan. Imagine the terror that seized Mary and Joseph as they looked everywhere for their only child and at last the utter relief when they found him. Amid joyful embraces Jesus tells them, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Mary and Joseph may not have fully understood all that meant at the time, but they knew in their hearts that their child, Jesus, was more than special. He was to change the entire world for all time.

“The Word Become Flesh” Those who accept and believe in ‘the Word become flesh’ have the power to become children of God. Faith in this truth provides purity of lineage in Mary’s royal Son, born into the poverty of our humankind.

In today’s readings, the Lord is asking us “Should you build me a house to dwell in?” Often, when we are preparing something, whether it’s a dinner, a party, a family reunion, we worry about the smallest details and forget about the bigger picture. That is exactly what happened with King David.

I once heard the explanation of refining precious metal such as silver and gold. The refiner places the metal in the fire and watches it until he can see his own image in it, at this point the precious metal is purified.

In the first reading, Hannah--the mother of Samuel--through her prayers to God, offers, not only her service, praise, and reverence to the Lord but Samuel, her son, as well--which he is the manifestation of her due service to the Most High, her praise in praying for--and having--him, and her reverence toward the one who is the Lord of all. It’s important to recognize, however, that it all began with prayer. Thus, no prayer encapsulates the miracle of Being than today’s Gospel reading: the Magnificat. The Canticle of Mary. When the prayers we have been repeating for the past decade are finally answered, we can’t help ourselves--through the virtues and graces we hold dear--but exalt the Lord as Our Lady does and say in accompaniment: “Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.”