Baptismal Sharing!

Our baptism is a sharing in the dying and rising with Christ. When we go down into the waters of baptism we die with Christ and when we come out we rise with him. As one image portrays, "Every baptismal font is the tomb of Christ and every baptismal font is the River Jordan" (St. Anthony Messenger Press-SAMP, Jan. 9, 2011). This goes along with what the Venerable John Paul II wrote, "Christian art will personify this river as an old man looking with awe at what is happening in his watery depths. For, as the Byzantine liturgy says, 'Christ the Sun is washed' in it. This same liturgy, in the Liturgy of the Hours on the day of the Theophany or Epiphany of Christ, imagines a dialogue with the river: "What did you see, O Jordan, that disturbed you so deeply? I saw the Invisible One naked and I trembled. How can one not tremble and draw back from him? At his site the angels trembled, the heavens leapt for joy, the earth shook, the sea turned back with all the visible and invisible beings. Christ appeared in the Jordan to bless all the waters" (SAMP, Jan. 2011)! We have seen some beautiful imagery about the baptismal font and Jordan River these past few days. It is all a reminder of the example that Our Lord gave to us and the baptism that we share! Have a blessed day!!!