From the Deacon’s Desk

Baptism

Some people at the time of Jesus thought if they prayed really loud, God would be able to hear them and answer their prayers. Jesus teaches us that God already knows what we need. We really don’t have to tell God anything! So why pray? We need to pray because we need to have God in our lives. When we pray, we are admitting we are powerless and need God’s help.

Jesus always had a special place in his heart for the poor. The poor can be any person or group of people who are down and out.   Why is it so important for us to care for those who need help? When we reach out to others, we develop a relationship with them. As we are all the body of Christ and are not only reaching out to a person, we are reaching out to God himself! We are developing a relationship with God and each other and asking to be made a part of those lives!

We are continually asked to forgive. This may be the hardest thing we do in life. It’s not always easy to forgive someone who hurts us. The key here is to make a decision to forgive. We will still feel the pain of another’s selfishness, but we decide to forgive them anyway. Why is this so important? When we learn to forgive as God does, to make a decision to forgive, we learn what forgiveness really is. When we learn that, we also learn to accept the forgiveness God offers us.

Today is the Sunday when we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. It was a new beginning for those who were baptized that day. Our own Baptism was a new beginning for us. Let’s make each day a new Baptism, not with a new ceremony but with a new commitment to follow Our Lord and live our own Baptism every day!

Peace and All Good!

Deacon Jim