The Baptism of the Lord

by Fr. John Granato  |  01/11/2026  |  Words from Fr. John

My Dear Friends,

Today we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord, which also ends the Christmas season. Jesus was baptized by St. John in the Jordan. By being baptized, Jesus blesses all water and makes it holy. Besides sacraments, our Catholic faith also has rich tradition of sacramentals. A sacramental is something blessed and is meant to lead us deeper into our faith and prepare us for the sacraments. Holy water is one such sacramental.

As we enter the church, we dip our fingers into the holy water font and bless ourselves with the sign of the cross. As we make the sign of the cross, we say the name of God, and His name is, The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, before Jesus ascends to heaven, he tells his apostles to baptize the whole world in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And in the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke writes that whole families and households are baptized. Or this reason, the Catholic Church (and the Orthodox Church and most other Christian churches) has always practiced infant baptism.

With infant baptism came also the development of godparents, who would support the parents and raise the children if something happened to the parents. Today godparents have become mostly honorary, but it is still required that a godparent be a practicing Catholic. Technically, when a non-Catholic Christian is named as a godparent, it is understood by the Catholic Church that this person is titled a Christian witness. The Catholic Church does require at least one godparent be a practicing Catholic. If you pick two godparents, they need to be a male and a female. Recent popes have also encouraged Catholics to not only celebrate the day of your birth, but also to celebrate the day of your baptism.

God bless!