It was Rev. Billy Graham who said, “I am convinced that people are open to the Christian message if it is seasoned with authority and proclaimed as God's own Word. Today, we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. It is the final day of our Christmas season. Just as we have four (4) weeks for preparation of the birth of Christ during the Advent season, we have two and one-half weeks of celebrating the birth of Jesus in this second season of our liturgical year. It is always sad for me to hear people the day or two after Christmas Day saying, “Well, I am so glad that Christmas is now over!” Over! It just began and we continue to celebrate through the days that follow up to the Baptism of the Lord. To be open to the Word – another name for the Son of God – is part and parcel to our everyday living out of our faith. Without it we would indeed be accenting how soon it would be over! Just as it was important to Jesus for John the Baptist to be faithful to his calling, so it is also important to Jesus that we be faithful to ours. Though John responded to the invitation to go ahead, he had a reluctance knowing the position he had in comparison to whom Jesus was. As any of us look back over our own lives, we see moments and times of a similar reluctance to respond positively to what Jesus is asking of us. Yet, when we do – and we know this as well from our lived faith experience – life comes abundantly and freely to us…After Sunday’s celebration, we return to Ordinary Time until we begin anew with our Lenten season. The invitation is to take these next seven and one-half weeks to see, to experience and to come to know Jesus in a new way.