The First Sunday of Epiphany
(The Baptism of Christ)
11th January 2025
Greetings.
On the magnificent font at Salisbury Cathedral are etched words from tomorrow's reading from Isaiah: when you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you (43.2). At the time of the Asian tsunami in 2004 I remember thinking how challenging it was to proclaim those words in the ease of our circumstance when so many lives had been lost to the waves. Again, as thousands of homes are consumed by fire in Los Angeles we are reminded that the biggest obstacle in the way of receiving God's promises is the experience of suffering. As we pray for those so terribly afflicted, be it in Los Angeles or in the world's many places of sorrow, inevitably we ask, does God really walk with us through the very worst experiences of this life?
Tomorrow, the First Sunday of Epiphany, the Church celebrates the Baptism of Christ. He came to the Jordan to be baptised by John, but he did not come for cleansing and forgiveness, but to bless the very waters themselves and to share fully in our condition, our need. It is a further declaration of the Christmas gospel that the Word is made flesh, fully so and with no element of human experience exempted. The final such declaration was none other than the Cross itself and Jesus' cry of abandonment (Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?) is a mark of his oneness with us in those times when we feel utterly bereft and alone.
There is an Epiphany custom of chalking doorways with a blessing which combines the calendar year with the initial letters of the names of the Magi (Caspar, Balthasar and Melchior) which are taken as an acronym for Christus mansionem benedicat (Christ bless this house). Long established in parts of Europe it has been adopted by some in this country. I think it is a wholesome custom not least as we are sadly bereft of domestic Christian rituals. But we must be mindful that it is a blessing and not a charm. It doesn't offer any guarantees in the vagaries of this life but, chalked on the lintel, it is a constant reminder to us inconstant mortals, that Christ's blessing is more enduring than anything in this mortal life, good or bad.
May that blessing be with you this Epiphany and throughout 2025,
Charles Booth
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