This feast day marks the end of this year’s Christmas season. Some celebrations go on until the Feast of the Presentation February 2, but we now return to Ordinary or numbered time until Lent begins in the middle of February. Today we hear the Gospel relate John the Baptist’s baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, the remarkable appearance of the Holy Spirit, and the voice of God the Father. It is Christ’s third revealing of His divinity and identity as Redeemer, following last week’s Solemnity of Epiphany and the Nativity.