I woke before dawn to the sound of rain drumming on the roof. It is the day of my baptism! Sixty-one years ago today my parents brought me to Star of the Sea Parish on City Island to have Fr. William J. McCormack baptize me. I’ve never been the same, and I thank all three of these elders for taking care of that little mite on New Year’s Eve, 1961, in the Bronx.
Today I will join Matthew Gariano and Tara Chan in holy wedlock at noon as rain washes over the land. The “news” calls it an ‘atmospheric river,’ nastily describing the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God in mean and upsetting terms. Rain is indeed a river, a river of grace pouring from heaven’s ocean of mercy. They say we will get eight feet of snow in the mountains before the clouds clear, enough water to fill our reservoirs and water our crops all year, not to mention skiing and snowshoeing well into May.
The waters of baptism grant us many strengths, but one of them is to perceive God’s providence in every circumstance, and to praise Him at all times. That’s the grace I ask for this new year: to see good in every person, to see beauty in the created order, and to give thanks in all circumstances. I ask for the grace to live the grace of my baptism, to love Him as He’s never been loved before, to render Him praise in right measure for His great glory.
O Lord, let me not grumble even once in this new year of grace, but let me give thanks!
Today I will join Matthew Gariano and Tara Chan in holy wedlock at noon as rain washes over the land. The “news” calls it an ‘atmospheric river,’ nastily describing the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God in mean and upsetting terms. Rain is indeed a river, a river of grace pouring from heaven’s ocean of mercy. They say we will get eight feet of snow in the mountains before the clouds clear, enough water to fill our reservoirs and water our crops all year, not to mention skiing and snowshoeing well into May.
The waters of baptism grant us many strengths, but one of them is to perceive God’s providence in every circumstance, and to praise Him at all times. That’s the grace I ask for this new year: to see good in every person, to see beauty in the created order, and to give thanks in all circumstances. I ask for the grace to live the grace of my baptism, to love Him as He’s never been loved before, to render Him praise in right measure for His great glory.
O Lord, let me not grumble even once in this new year of grace, but let me give thanks!
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