View from the Pew - Baptism of Our Lord - January 10, 2010

St. George Parish - London, Ontario

This is the last View from the Pew from this venue for several weeks.  My Dear Wife and I will be driving to our winter location in Tucson Arizona, commencing tomorrow morning, arriving there on January 15, and returning some day in the not too distant future.  From there, I hope to write View from the Pew about our winter parish Our Lady of Fatima, and/or possibly St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish where Father Clement Agamba, who I have mentioned in some recent posts, was moved while we were back home in Canada.

Today was about Baptism, and of course was punctuated by the Baptism of the two newest members of our Parish, two infants.  What got my attention was when Father Francis said to the babies and all of us in earshot, "I claim you for Christ."  Wow, that says it all for me.

Deacon Bob Hartman preached the homily today, inviting us all to live out our Baptismal promises.  He shared with us that we are Christ for others and that is an important responsibility, not one that we do on our own, but through Christ who lives in us.

In other words, this Sunday, which bridges the time of our celebration of the arrival of Our Saviour on this earth and Ordinary Time is a reminder to us that we are not to put away the true spirit of Christmas when we put our ornaments and trees away.  Instead, we are to put on Jesus Christ each and every day of the year, so that we might be Christ for each other and see Christ in each other.