Anointing figures prominently in the readings this week.

What level of understanding of baptism do your listeners have?

The “how do we know?” question is one of discernment, the art form we Christians cultivate to guide us through life.

Every year millions of Christian pilgrims come to the Jordan River to be baptized, rebaptized, renew vows, and so on. The river, however, is not only a spiritual locale but a physical place as well--and a place with problems.

It seems easier for us to put up a false front than to be authentically who we are. And yet when we discover who we are at our deepest core and are able to be that person fully, we are liberated and God is well pleased.

Great leaders in every profession and trade try to walk in the shoes of those they serve to gain insights into the best way to lead and set an example of how to follow.

You have probably heard the saying, "Like father, like son." This maxim applies very well to Jesus and his Abba (father).

At the Baptism of the Lord, God recognized Jesus as his Son and so began Christ's saving mission to the world. Let us pray to God for the help we need to feel the Lord's presence more in our lives and so to follow him more closely.

Jesus will bring justice and peace, not through a violent revolution but through a suffering love that will not even break a bruised reed.

Baptism incorporates us into Christ and forms us into God's people. . . . pardons our sins, rescues us from the powers of darkness, and brings us to the dignity of adopted children, a new creation through water and the Holy Spirit. --Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults