O God, manifest in us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Today is the day in the church liturgical calendar called “The Baptism of our Lord.” In the early church, the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord was far more important a celebration than the Feast of the Birth of Our Lord (which we call Christmas). Traditionally, Christians celebrated three feasts of light: Epiphany, which was the story of people wise enough to seek after and find Jesus and then go home by another way; The Baptism of Our Lord by the incredulous John at the River Jordan; and the Wedding Feast at Cana where the story goes that Jesus brightened up a very gloomy situation by changing water into some really good wine. These feasts of light were understood to illuminate the nature of God. They were manifestations or revelations initiated by God and noticed by people. These three feasts demonstrated to Christians who observed them, not only what God is like, but also Who (God) wishes us to be in community – in relationship to one another.

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