My parish has a custom of which I am very fond. When the time comes for the announcements at Sunday Mass, the commentator begins by welcoming those who are worshipping with us for the first time.

That is the mystery with which the Gospel reading for this solemnity presents us. Mark’s Gospel tells us how “John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” and how people “of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.”

Because St. John’s is a Catholic university, every undergraduate student is required to take courses in theology and philosophy, no matter what their major might be. Whether they are biology majors aspiring to careers in medicine, or business majors aiming to be leaders in the corporate world, their theology courses aim to help them understand the teachings and traditions that make a Catholic university distinctive and to ground them in values that can guide them along life’s journey.

I used to visit my grandmother when I was a child during school vacations. Grandma Dorothy suffered from undiagnosed diabetes for many years. They thought she had a bad case of eczema that caused her left shin area to break into a really big horrific-looking sore. We would often help her clean the open wound morning and late afternoon to prevent further infection and hopefully help it to heal.