"He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up." Did you grow up in a small town? Whenever you see stories of tight-knit communities, a common refrain is that everybody knows everybody and that's very difficult to change. If you leave and return, people expect you to be and act a certain way, and it's strange for them if you do not. In today's Gospel, we see that Jesus was already moving "in the power of the Spirit and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He...was praised by all." His ministry has begun! News of his growing popularity must have proceeded him to Nazareth.

The Christians are not removed from the world and its conflicts. Indeed, Jesus sends us "to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Due to the complex nature of the human experience, the pressures of cultures that don't share Christian values, and the difficulty of living the Gospel, even people of good will have conflicts! The Church has disagreements within herself. This has been the case from the beginning. In the letters of Paul, we see him writing to churches who disagree on how to best live the Gospel in everyday life. And different teachers went to cities after Paul and sometimes preached conflicting messages on who Jesus was.

When you think of being Catholic, what do you think of? Perhaps you grew up with your only associations being fasting, nuns with rulers, and "Catholic guilt." Our faith can sometimes have the connotation of restriction and absence, not abundance.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity consists of eight days beginning Jan 18, the feast of the Chair of Peter, and ending on Jan 25, the feast of the conversion of St. Paul. The Franciscan Friars at the Atonement, founded in the early 20th Century in Graymoor, New York, sought to promote unity among Anglicans and Roman Catholics. Paul James Wattson, a former Episcopalian priest, founded the community, which was formally accepted into the Catholic Communion.

Think of what it's like to wait a long time. Can you imagine what it would be like to wait for centuries? No one person lives that long, of course. But for the Israelites, they had heard the stories from generation to generation. They had been conquered time and time again, and now "the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ." They had been waiting for a Messiah, one who did miraculous deeds and said profound things; someone aglow with the glory of God.

From the earliest of days of St. John the Baptist, baptism has been a sign of repentance and forgiveness of sins. Now Jesus has instituted it as a sacrament, with real power to cleanse us from original sin and adopt us as children of God. But if Jesus wasn't affected by original sin, nor did he willingly choose sin, why would he need to be baptized?

At the baptism of Jesus, a voice came from heaven saying, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." Through Baptism, Jesus' identity as God'sSon is revealed and understood. He knows very clearly who he is. Baptism does the same for us.

Epiphany, like Christmas, is celebrated in various ways by different nationalities and cultures. The customs and traditions surrounding these daysgive them a distinct feel and meaning.

We all have had the experience of walking into a dark room and searching for the light switch. If we are really unfamiliar with the space, anxiety, uncertainty, disorientation, and even fear can easily arise. Once we find the light, all is illuminated and we are at peace. Our light has come into the world! The glory of God has been revealed!