{"id":5054,"date":"2014-01-17T16:50:40","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T16:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=5054"},"modified":"2014-01-17T16:50:40","modified_gmt":"2014-01-17T16:50:40","slug":"the-baptism-of-the-lord-12-01-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=5054","title":{"rendered":"The Baptism of the Lord (12.01.14)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Baptism of the Lord (12.01.14)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christ, the sinless one, joined the queue of sinners, but in his case, in his baptism by his cousin John in the waters of the Jordan Jesus was taking on the sin of humanity.A lesson we can learn from this incident is the importance of example.\u00a0\u00a0 All his earthly life, Jesus taught us how to live \u2013 growing naturally through all the stages of life, from babyhood to adulthood, developing gradually in wisdom, age and stature.\u00a0 For His thirty hidden years as man, He responded to the graces bestowed on Him by His Father, and nurtured the seed planted in the good soil of His soul.\u00a0 Goodness and virtue of any kind has to be experienced and lived before it can be taught.Jesus taught us the\u00a0importance of waiting\u00a0in the spiritual life.\u00a0\u00a0 For thirty years, He authentically practised what He would preach during His three years in public life, showing us that nothing is impossible to God.
\nWe, His followers are asked to live the present moment to the full.\u00a0 The future is in God\u2019s Hands.
\nThe most important thing in life is not the work we do, but rather what we make of ourselves, with His grace.
\nThrough our Baptism, the seed of Christ-like living is planted in our souls.\u00a0 \u00a0May we cherish it.<\/p>\n

However, we must be patient with ourselves and with others.\u00a0 People develop at different speeds.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit will guide and strengthen us along the way.\u00a0 Then, too, we must remember that life is an uphill climb, and it is not easy to keep to the straight and narrow path, but we have the support and encouragement of our brothers and sisters in the Christian community into which we were inserted at Baptism.<\/p>\n

Baptism was not over and done with when the priest poured water over our infant foreheads.
\nWe are being baptised by everything that happens to us in life.<\/p>\n

We are baptised by trials and difficulties \u2013 in their turbulent waters we are purified of all that is false and useless.<\/p>\n

We are baptised by suffering \u2013 in its murky waters we grow in humility and compassion.<\/p>\n

We are baptised by joy \u2013 in its gurgling waters we experience the goodness of life.<\/p>\n

We are baptised by love \u2013in its singing waters we blossom like flowers in the sun.<\/p>\n

To be baptised is to be christened, which means to be made like Christ.
\nThe sacrament only begins this process.
\nIt plants the seed.<\/p>\n

It will take a lifetime for this seed to grow and ripen \u2013 for the image of Christ to be fully formed in us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Baptism of the Lord (12.01.14) Christ, the sinless one, joined the queue of sinners, but in his case, in his baptism by his cousin John in the waters of the Jordan Jesus was taking on the sin of humanity.A … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archdiocese-of-liverpool"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5055,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5054\/revisions\/5055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}