the Baptism of Christ

Then Jesus went from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized by John.
However, John stopped him and said, "I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?"
  Jesus however replied and told him, "Let it be, for this is decreed for us, for all righteousness to be fulfilled." And he allowed it.

  Then as Jesus was baptized, at once he rose out of the water, and the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and settled upon him.
  And, behold, the voice from heaven that said, "This is my beloved Son, by whom I am fulfilled!" 

St. Matthew 3 vv. 13-17 

 

From our local church flower festival

Even Solomon in all his glory...

 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 
 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
 "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 
 

and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

St. Matthew Chapter 6 vv. 25-29 - Part of  Jesus' Sermon on the Mount

flowers arranged for the Flower Festival at our local church

Seek virtue over violence - love your enemies

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for He makes His sun rise on the bad and good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust." 
                                                                                                                                         Matthew 5:43-5

Along with many others I have been deeply disturbed by the scenes of celebration and "blood lust" over the recent event in Pakistan. Here is what I think to be a balanced and thoughtful Christian response taken
from The Saint Louis Review - the publication of the Archdiocese of St Louis.