(RNS) — Last Sunday (Jan. 12) most Christian churches celebrated the baptism of Jesus, an event in his life I always found confusing. I could never understand why Jesus was baptized. After all, ...

Last Sunday (Jan. 12) most Christian churches celebrated the baptism of Jesus, an event in his life I always found confusing. I could never understand why Jesus was baptized. After all, Catholics ...

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.

Bethany Beyond the Jordan was a spiritual experience my lapsed Catholic self was not expecting. It reminded me that whatever your religious constructs, the teachings of Jesus are of kindness, ...

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 ...

"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 ...

That's how Christian pilgrims greet one another to commemorate the Feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 19 on the Orthodox calendar when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. “At this time of year, we wish ...

Baptism is an outward sign of an inward decision. It signifies a dying to the old man as you are plunged underwater and a new birth into spiritual life in Christ. We baptize people to commemorate a ...