Saying Goodbye To The Christmas Season

Merry Christmas one last time! We are in 2022 now so I am guessing many of you have already had to correct the date a few times at this point.

This weekend we say goodbye to the Christmas season with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. As we hear the account of Jesus’ baptism we should be reminded of our own baptism, even though most of us do not remember it. Jesus himself was baptized, even though he did not need it. While our baptism is for the mitigation of our sins, including original sin, Jesus’ baptism was to purify the redeeming waters for our own baptism. When we were baptized, our parents made some promises for us and we affirmed them in our confirmation. The promises that we make are made so that we can live out the practice of the faith that Christ gave us.

I have always marveled at the fact that we use the term “practicing Catholics”: this is because we are not perfect ones - we are still practicing. It is only when we are one with the Lord in the kingdom of heaven that we will become perfect ones. Athletes practice their sports constantly because they want to be the best that they can be. (Can you imagine how a quarterback would play if they didn’t practice?) Just like athletes, we need to continue to practice and do those things to help us live out the faith that has been given to us by God.

Here are the promises that we (or our parents) make to God in our baptism: to reject Satan, his works, and his empty promises, that we believe in God, who is Father and creator, who is Jesus Christ who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died and buried, rose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the Father, who is also the Holy Spirit, to also believe in the holy Catholic church, communion of saints, forgiveness of sins, resurrection of the body and life everlasting. These are the promises that we make to God and we should keep looking at our own lives so that we can live them out. We repeat these promises each and every time that we say the Creed at Mass or during the rosary.

These statements of belief are some that we should not just say without meaning, because they do mean something. God has given us a wonderful gift of free choice and we can choose to follow the faith that He gave us, or not, it really is our choice. God knows that we may make mistakes in this, but He does offer us grace and mercy each and every time we turn back to Him. God knows that it is not always an easy path, which is why Jesus reminds us that we need to pick up our cross and follow Him each and every day. Remember in all the practicing of being a Catholic, we are continually working (with God’s help) toward that goal of being that perfect Catholic in the kingdom of heaven.

Merry Christmas,
Fr. Ken