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This weekend we will be commemorating the Baptism of our Lord for the First Sunday after Epiphany which was this past Monday. It is one of the days that our Book of Common Prayer lists as special days in which baptisms can occur (though every Sunday outside of Lent allows for baptisms). This Sunday, we will be baptizing three young men, brothers, Casey, Grant, and Leo Poinelli, who recently started attending with their father, Les. The eldest son told me due to a TikTok challenge, he started reading the Gospel of Luke, reading a chapter day in December leading up to Christmas, as the Gospel has 24 chapters. I guess the Holy Ghost can use technology.

Also, we will be sending off Deacon Claire to her next chapter. Clergy departures are never easy, and I know this has greatly affected many people who have found inspiration, comfort, and connection from her and her ministry. Still, I find great symbolism in the fact that Claire’s last day with us is also a day of baptism. Such can be our Christian life, a life in which we allow for God to guide our steps and open up for us new adventures and new possibilities. 

This was a purpose of Jesus Christ being baptized, as you might be wondering why Jesus needed to be baptized at all. He had to submit to the Father in all ways and baptism, even in the pre-Chrisitan rite found in Judaism, was a symbolic way of doing that. As Jesus is also fully human, and Jewish, the rite of baptism was an act of repentance and ritual cleansing. No, Jesus did not sin and therefore had truly nothing to repent for, but he needed to mark his humanity in the same way as us.

Claire’s departure is a sign of the Holy Spirit in her life, which goes back to her baptism. If you’ve studied Acts of the Apostles, you know the movement of the Holy Spirit throughout the book and how it helped grow the early church. The Holy Spirit is the key to church movement and growth. And now as we bring in three new Christians into the fold, I rest in the fact the Holy Spirit is at work in the world today gathering in those who seek Jesus. And through others, helping them to disciple and minister. I pray that this year, we can seek deeper understandings of the Holy Spirit in our lives individually and as a parish to help us on this adventure of the Christian life. God bless!

In Christ,

Fr. Zach