Today's Two-Fer: Baptism of the Lord and a Confirmation Commitment

"The Lord was baptized, not to be cleansed himself but to cleanse the waters, so that those waters, cleansed by the flesh of Christ which knew no sin, might have the power of baptism. Whoever comes, therefore, to the washing of Christ lays aside his sins" St. Ambrose of Milan

This morning we all went to the 9 a.m. Mass, an early one for us. Today is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the day in which the Church commemorates the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. Today was also the day where several eighth graders in our parish, including our son, participated in a Confirmation Commitment ceremony during Mass. Since Confirmation seals the sacrament of Baptism, the timing could not have been better.

While our son's Confirmation sponsor, my older brother, was unable to attend the ceremony, we were delighted that his Godfather, a busy father of four who lives an hour away, attended Mass with us.

I don't know if these Confirmation commitment ceremonies are relatively new in the life of the Church; I have no memory of having participated in one as a middle school student. But today was the day when we stood up with our son before our parish community. We each gave our son the sign of the cross on his forehead and he agreed he wants to be confirmed and will do his best to prepare. What a joyful moment.

And yes, there was grace at both tables today. (Thanks for praying for that Michelle).

Here is a shot of our dining room table before Mass. After Mass, I served multigrain waffles with grilled pineapple and bacon and a side of strawberries and bananas. Hours after Mass,  Godfather Jason is still in our dining room, chatting with my husband about college football. Major League baseball and New Jersey politics with our son listening in.

May our son learn from these men how to become a witness to Christ in his words and his deeds.