Since 2019, the Universal Church dedicates the third Sunday of every year to the celebration of the Word of God. This celebration is very apt in Year "A" of the liturgical calendar for two reasons. First, it is at this third weekend of Ordinary Time that the almost serial Gospel Readings from Matthew begin and continue throughout Ordinary Time of the liturgical year. It is also on the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year "A" that Matthew gives us an account of the beginning of the preaching part of the public ministry of Jesus.

During the Season of Advent when we prepared for the coming of Jesus at Christmas, we had two weekends when the Gospel passages focused on the person and mission of John the Baptist, the forebearer of Christ, who came to prepare Israel for the coming of the awaited Messiah. On Christmas Day, the Gospel passage for the Mass during the day, which was taken from the prologue of St. John’s Gospel, took a sudden break at some point to introduce John the Baptist and distinguish him from the Christ whose arrival John prepared Israel for.

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which we celebrate this weekend, brings to an end the Christmas Season. Next weekend we shall return to Ordinary Time when we shall be nourished with Readings for a few weeks before we begin the Season of Lent. The Baptism of the Lord, which signified the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, emphasizes our identity as beloved Children of God, our mission being to share Christ’s light and the transformative power of our own Baptism through which we received adoption into the great family of God and the mandate to live out God’s love and justice in the world, acting as prophets and servants.

The Epiphany of the Lord is traditionally celebrated on January 6, but here in the United States it is moved to the First Sunday of the New Year as it is done in other countries. In the Feast of the Epiphany, we celebrate Jesus revealing Himself, not as a mere “King of the Jews,” but as Savior of the whole world. This is the story of the Magi, noble men who saw His sign and traveled from the east to arrive at His birth place in order to worship Him.