“Being welcomed into a faith community is to begin a maturing process of learning to live one’s faith as a son or daughter of God”

"In Mark’s Gospel Jesus first appears not as a child, as in Matthew and Luke, but as a grown man. His first act is to receive the baptism of John,..."

“We never stand still in the spiritual life. Love either grows, or it loses ground. Jesus made a deliberate choice to take time out, to grow closer to his Father through a deeper period of prayer. Perhaps the Holy Spirit is calling us today, to do the same.”

"At this time of year, the Church celebrates the “Epiphany”, which means a solemn, striking, royal or divine visit. We recall how God the Word, Creator and King of all..."

"Mark begins his Gospel in the desert, where John baptises and where Jesus will be tested by Satan. The desert is a place at the fringes of social order, neither..."

"One of the more tedious parts of performing a baptism is making sure that the paperwork is in order, and the names of the candidate and the godparents are correctly..."

“He has called us to help others to see, through the love that we show and the help that we give, that God loves them, that He invites them, too, to be His sons and daughters, and that He wants to be their Helper and Strengthener through all the troubles that life in this world can bring”

“Unlike human beings, who prefer to think in quid-pro-quo, tit-for-tat, lex talionis, retributive justice, God actually thinks in terms of mercy and forgiveness.”

“The setting itself though is probably more significant than anything else in the reading. It is a desert, but for John the Baptist it is a refuge from the oppression, disgrace and blasphemy that he perceives in having Roman authorities governing his land and influencing his faith.”

"What do you get for nothing? Not much. At least that would be our immediate response. We live in a materialistic culture and it is almost impossible to remain unaffected..."

“though he's not a sinner he stands shoulder to shoulder with sinners, identifying with them”

“We never simply watch the baptism of Jesus from the outside as surveyors of a distant historical scene, the idea is we participate in it now”

“What's the Christian drama? Not so much a quest to find something but a quest to get rid of something. Jesus came to take away the sin of the world.”