To many Christians the baptism of Jesus seems almost as much of an enigma as it did to the Baptist. It serves as a precedent for our own baptism. It also forms an introduction to Christ’s ministry.

Along with yesterday’s feast of the Epiphany and the wedding at Cana, today’s feast, the Baptism of the Lord, is one of the three epiphanies of Jesus’ humanity, according to the early Church Fathers.

The Baptism of the Lord Jesus teaches us something about the theology of geography. There are many places where water for baptism could be found in the land of Israel. Why was Jesus baptized by John ...

Today we hear Luke’s account of Jesus’ baptism. The surrounding passages can help to contextualize the Gospel and reflect on its significance as the birth of Jesus’ public ministry. The beginning of ...

Pope St. John Paul II, in his 2002 Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, proposed adding a fourth quintet of mysteries to be contemplated when praying the Rosary: the Luminous Mysteries. Leaving ...

My dad grew up with two relatives who were eccentric, to say the least. One was an uncle who showed up periodically to sleep on the front porch — often deciding that clothing was an unnecessary ...

Remember the day of your baptism? It's highly unlikely, but your parents and godparents and an assortment of relatives probably do. Perhaps they remember the event itself, or the party, or something ...

The Baptism of Jesus Christ, described in all four Gospels, took place in the Jordan River, just a few miles north of the Dead Sea and roughly six miles east of Jericho. Not only did Jesus’ baptism ...

Rather than narrating the back-story of John or a relating a history establishing the lineage of Jesus, the beginning of Mark’s gospel cuts straight to the chase. It is like a gurney waiting in the ...

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). This verse is from the Gospel of Matthew, one of the three synoptic Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible, and is about the ...

We all have a desire of belonging to something. Today, as we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus, we can think about this concept of belonging. Baptism is the sacrament by which we belong as members of the ...

The year 2030 will mark 2,000 years since the traditional date of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. Bethany Beyond the Jordan—today known as Al-Maghtas—is regarded as the site of Christ’s baptism.