St. Joseph the Worker

Dear Parishioners of St. Joseph the Worker:

 The Christmas season has come to an end.  This weekend we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord, the event in which we remember that Jesus was baptized by St. John the Baptist in the Jordan River.  Jesus showed His solidarity with us by having done to Him what He wanted done to us.

As to our own baptism, do we remember the date?  Do we remember the priest or deacon who did the baptism?  What church were we baptized in?  Who from the family was there?

St. Pope John Paul II, when asked what the most important event was in his life, answered—“the day I was baptized.”  Wow!  Would we have even had that on our list of the top 30 lifetime events?

How do we grow in our baptismal faith each day? 

How do we live out our baptismal promises at school, work, home?

Are we in contact with our godparents?

Do we pray for families that bring their son/daughter to be baptized?

Do we bless ourselves with the holy water in our baptism font as we enter church?

In signing ourselves with that holy water, does it remind us of our baptismal day?

Do we celebrate our baptism day each year as we do our birthday?

Do we ask our parents about our baptismal day, how they felt in presenting us to the Lord?

Are we those good examples of Catholic Christians for those baptized/received into the Church?

The Feast of the Lord’s Baptism closes this most holy season of our Lord being Incarnate for us.  He came so that we might be saved from sin and death.  He came as a baby.  He grew and had water poured over Him by his cousin John in the Jordan.  May His example spur us on each day to be committed to our mission, to make Him known and felt in the world today, that mission begun for us when the holy waters of our baptism was poured over us.

Your “Nov. 4, 1956” baptized pastor, Father Joe