With you I am well pleased! I don’t remember my baptism. Chances are, if you were baptized as an infant, you don’t remember your baptism either. But I know that I was baptized, and that my parents and God-parents made promises on my behalf. So did God! And while I have often failed to keep and live up to the promises made on my behalf (which I reaffirmed when I was confirmed), God has remained faithful and true to his word (2 Timothy 2:13). My hope is that you have found this to be true in your own lives as well. This Sunday, we celebrate the baptism of our Lord. We will recount how Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit at his baptism in the river Jordan and God’s voice from heaven thundered: "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." (Luke 3:22) We will also renew our baptismal vows as we remind ourselves of the covenant that God has made with us in baptism…new birth by water and the Holy Spirit…forgiveness of sin…and eternal life by and trough the grace of God! Oh, and don’t be surprised if you hear God whisper in your ear: You are my beloved child – with you I am well pleased. Blessings,
Matthew+ Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (BCP p. 214) | 
