Deo Gratias!

On this my anniversary of Baptism I give thanks to God for the privilege of sharing life in Christ with all my sisters and brothers. My comprehension of this mystery has grown with each year since March 14, 1937, but always with the words of St. Paul as a background: "...eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart man what God has prepared for those who love God." Our baptismal lives are but a hint, a vague clue, of the profound reality that awaits to be fully revealed to us. In Baptism each of us is "ordained", ordered, oriented towards becoming the kind of loving, serving being which Jesus modeled in his own life. Like the water which John the Baptizer poured upon Jesus' head, and which is poured on us in Baptism, our Lord intends us to be poured out like refreshing, cleansing, life-giving water through our service to and care for one another.

We thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water.
Over it the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation. Through it you led the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt into the land of promise. In it your Son Jesus received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us, through his death and resurrection, from the bondage of sin into everlasting life.
We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit...