“After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Lk 3:21-22). On this, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we hear God the Father declare that Jesus, the son of Mary is, indeed, His Son as well. And, He is well pleased with him. Shortly after his baptism, Jesus begins his public ministry, declaring “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel!” (Mk 1:15)
At our baptism, we, too, become sons and daughters of God and God is well pleased with us. After a person is baptized, the priest instructs the faithful: “Dearly beloved, this child has been reborn in baptism. He is now called a child of God, for so indeed he is.” As members of the Church, we are called to continue the work Jesus began and bring God’s kingdom to fulfillment. What a wonderful privilege it is!
By baptism, all Catholics are called to share in this sacred mission. By ordination, the pastor is called to lead and to encourage his parishioners to share in this mission, using their talents and abilities for the good of the larger community. What great work could be accomplished if everyone would respond! In this archdiocese, there are approximately 1.3 million baptized lay Catholics. In our parish alone, there are over 7,600 registered Catholics. Over the past four years, under the strong leadership of Laura Kerr, a parishioner with a true passion for her faith, and the persistence of our Evangelization Team, our evangelization initiative has helped more than 80 of our parishioners become aware of their baptismal call to become missionary disciples. But, what if every one of the baptized were to respond to their baptismal call! We are all the Church, and the Church can only do as much as each one of us contributes! With the active involvement of more parishioners, we can make our parish and the Church universal an even better place for us to fulfill our baptismal call to continue the work Jesus began and bring God’s kingdom to fulfillment.
Archbishop Pérez is very eager to engage us all in this very important mission of the Church. In fact, he sent out a Pastoral Letter on this very subject last Sunday, 5 January. This letter outlines his hopes for the future of the Church of Philadelphia over the coming years. He is asking for your help in being a part of this new initiative in the archdiocese. The first thing he is asking you to do is to visit https://trustandhope.org or use the QR code below. He asks you to watch the video and then read his letter to all of us. After that, please sign up for one of the Archdiocesan Consultation Sessions and learn even more. We will be hosting one of these sessions here in our parish center on 10 February beginning at 6:30pm and I encourage you to sign up and attend either the one here or anywhere in the archdiocese.
This is an exciting time for our parish and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. I invite you to join in this new direction as we work together to draw ourselves ever closer to our Lord and to draw others to him, as well!