Sunday 11th January 2026

This Sunday we keep the Feast of the Baptism of Christ, one of those moments in the Church’s year that looks deceptively simple. Jesus goes down into the water. He comes back up again. Heaven opens, briefly, and then closes. And life carries on.

It is not an event that shouts for attention. Nothing dramatic is done, nothing obvious is achieved — and yet the Church has always insisted that this quiet moment at the River Jordan changes everything.

Our readings from Isaiah and Matthew invite us to linger rather than rush, to notice what God chooses to reveal at the very beginning of Jesus’ public life, and to listen for what that might mean for us as we step into a new year together.

If the year ahead feels busy, uncertain, or already demanding more than you’d like to give, this is a good Sunday to pause. Do invite friends or family to come with you — it’s a beautifully accessible moment in the story of Jesus, and one that speaks as much to ordinary life as it does to theology.

With every blessing,
Mark