8 January: Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

by popadmin | Jan 9, 2022 | CIC Saint Writeups

8 January: Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Today, we celebrate the baptism of Christ in the Jordan by John the Baptist: a milestone event in the life of Jesus and in Christianity. This feast day is usually celebrated on the Sunday after the Feast of the Epiphany. It brings to an end the liturgical season of Christmas. {Christmas is the feast of God’s self-revelation to the Jews, and Epiphany celebrates God’s self-revelation to the Gentiles.} At his Baptism, Christ reveals himself again, this time to repentant sinners. The Baptism of Jesus also marks the first public revelation of all Three Persons in the Holy Trinity, and the official revelation of Jesus as the Son of God to the world by God the Father. Jesus’s baptism is described in all four Gospels and it marks the beginning of his public ministry. “After Jesus was baptized, he came from the water and behold, the heavens were opened [for him], and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove [and] coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased’ ” (Mt 3:16-17). We know that Jesus, holy and sinless, did not need to be baptized. Yet he humbled himself and submitted to his Father’s will. Jesus’s baptism sanctified the waters and instituted the Sacrament of Baptism. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: Our Lord voluntarily submitted himself to the baptism of St. John, intended for sinners, in order to “fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus’ gesture is a manifestation of his self-emptying. The Spirit who had hovered over the waters of the first creation descended then on the Christ as a prelude of the new creation, and the Father revealed Jesus as his “beloved Son.” (CCC 1224)  Fr. Antony Kadavil explains this further: “Neither John nor Jesus invented baptism. It had been practiced for centuries among the Jews as a ritual equivalent to our Confession. Until the fall of the Temple in 70 A.D., it was common for Jewish people to use a special pool called a Mikveh – literally a “collection of water” – as a means of spiritual cleansing. Men took this bath weekly on the eve of the Sabbath; women, monthly. Converts were also expected to take this bath before entering Judaism. The Orthodox Jews still retain the rite. John preached that such a bath was a necessary preparation for the cataclysm that would be wrought by the coming Messiah. Jesus transformed this continuing ritual into the one single, definitive act by which we begin our life of Faith. In effect, He fused His Divine Essence with the water and the ceremony. In this humble submission, we see a foreshadowing of the “baptism” of his bloody death upon the cross. Jesus’ baptism by John was the acceptance and the beginning of his mission as God’s suffering Servant. He allowed himself to be numbered among sinners. Jesus submitted himself entirely to his Father’s will. Out of love, He consented to His baptism of death for the remission of our sins.” On this glorious feast day, we also celebrate our own baptisms, which freed us from sin and made us sons and daughters of God. Through baptism, God has opened the doors to Heaven. Deo gratias!

Ideas for celebrating in your home:

• The Christian symbol for Baptism is the shell, which you can easily turn into a dinner theme. Make pasta shells, Nacho Stuffed Shells, or Italian stuffed shells. Decorate the table with sea shells (children can color or craft some if you don’t have any real ones).
• Pull out your family’s Baptismal candles and light them at dinner. Tell children about the Baptism of Our Lord and their own special Baptismal days! (Share stories from family baptisms around the dinner table: Talk about who was there, how godparents were chosen, celebration afterwards, etc.)
• This is a wonderful day to renew our baptismal vows: click here for instructions.
• Start a family tradition of celebrating baptism anniversaries: Here are ideas!
• Finally, if you have access to a pool, pond, river or stream: we dare you to take a winter plunge in celebration of Jesus’s baptism in the Jordan!

28 December: Feast of the Holy Innocents (‘Childermas’)

by popadmin | Dec 22, 2021 | CIC Saint Writeups

26 December: Feast of the Holy Family. Little is known about the life of Jesus’s earthly family. The gospels tell of the early years: the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the flight into Egypt, the finding of Jesus in the temple. Pope Leo XIII promoted this feast day as a way to counter the breakdown of the family unit. The purpose was to present the Holy Family as the model for all Christian families, and for domestic life in general. Family life becomes sanctified when we live the life of the Church within our homes. This is called the “domestic church” or the “church in miniature.” St. John Chrysostom urged Christians to make each home a “family church,” thus sanctifying the family unit. A good way to do this is by making Christ the center of family life: read scripture regularly, pray together as a family, attend Mass, go to confession, teach children about virtues, learn about and imitate the lives of the saints, live liturgically (follow the church calendar at home), and so forth. It is important to note that we don’t become holy despite the busyness of family life, but in and through it. On this feast, may the virtuous example of the Holy Family of Nazareth inspire us to develop homes full of prayer, love, and holiness.

28 December: Feast of the Holy Innocents (‘Childermas’). On the fourth day in the octave of Christmas, the Church remembers the massacre of innocent children in Bethlehem as told in Matthew 2:16-18. King Herod had ordered the death of all male children aged two and under, in his attempt to kill the infant Jesus. “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”  These children are considered martyrs, Saints of God, by the Church. This feast day is often seen as a day of merrymaking for children. It is custom to give the youngest child in the household the power to rule the day. From what to eat, where to go and what to do, the youngest is in charge. In Mexico, it is a day for children to play practical jokes and pranks on their elders. The Holy Innocents are special patrons of babies and small children. This feast is an excellent time for parents to inaugurate the custom of blessing children. Sign a cross on your child’s forehead with the right thumb and say: “May God bless you and may He be the Guardian of your heart and mind, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Ideas for celebrating at home:

• Plan a family dinner, having all members involved. Each person can cook or choose a favorite dish (depending on age). Make a table centerpiece by surrounding aChrist-Candle with smaller white candles representing the Holy Innocents. The number of small candles might be as many as there are children in the family. Each child is allowed to light their small candle from the flame of the Christ-Candle, signifying that just as he received life from Christ, he will live for (and if need be, die for) Christ.
• Do a fun family activity: a game, movie night, reading books aloud together, bonfire, or outing (hike, walk, bike ride). Make popcorn balls, a fun kitchen activity to get all hands involved from young to old.
• Pray together: the rosary, especially the Joyful mysteries, is an excellent family prayer.
• Prayer of Consecration of the Family to the Holy Family, the Prayer of Parents for Their Childrenand Prayer to the Holy Family can all be said on this feast day.
• Purchase a holy family statue or icon for your home, if you don’t own one already.
• Read Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical On Christian Marriage. You can also check out the Vatican’s page of Papal documents on the Family.
• Go to mass! 26 December is a Sunday and follows the regular mass schedule. On Tuesday, 28 December, there will be a 9am mass that includes a special Blessing of Children at Prince of Peace. Be sure and bring your children to POP for their blessing!

“The first witnesses of Christ’s birth, the shepherds, found themselves not only before the Infant Jesus but also a small family: mother, father and newborn son. God had chosen to reveal himself by being born into a human family and the human family thus became an icon of God! …Indeed, the family is the best school at which to learn to live out those values which give dignity to the person and greatness to peoples. …The Holy Family of Nazareth is truly the “prototype” of every Christian family which, united in the Sacrament of Marriage and nourished by the Word and the Eucharist, is called to carry out the wonderful vocation and mission of being the living cell not only of society but also of the Church, a sign and instrument of unity for the entire human race. …May [the holy family] help Christian families to be, in every part of the world, living images of God’s love.” – Pope Benedict XVI