The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord highlights Baptism’s foundational role in the Christian life as the Sacrament of Initiation into the Church and a sign of new birth in Christ. “The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them” (CCC 1257). The purpose of Jesus’ own baptism in the Jordan River, administered by his cousin, John, was to mark the beginning of his public ministry, to reveal the Blessed Trinity, to show solidarity with us sinners by providing an example of baptism, and to sanctify the waters of baptism. By entering the waters, Jesus consecrates them as a sacramental sign, making the water capable of conferring grace and thus enabling the person to be born into new life. God could have chosen the Sacrament of Baptism to be conferred in any number of ways, but his choice of water is most fitting in light of the context of all of salvation history.