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Baptism of Christ by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1580s [Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio]
By Randall Smith, The Catholic Thing, April 14, 2026
Randall B. Smith is a Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His latest book is From Here to Eternity: Reflections on Death, Immortality, and the Resurrection of the Body.
Many readers here likely witnessed Baptisms recently, especially if they went to the Easter Vigil Mass. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, we seem to have been blessed with a good number of Baptisms this year. Let’s pray that this undeserved gift continues and grows like the proverbial mustard seed.
That prayer is one we must make for ourselves too, of course, for our own Baptism is like the weeding and preparation of “good soil” into which the seeds of grace are planted. But we must cooperate with that grace for the new growth to flourish. The cleansing of Baptism is only a first step – and in an important sense, a first step toward the Cross. Baptism gives us the grace to take up the Cross. ….
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Christ the King. While the specific artist of this traditional Catholic painting is not definitively identified in common digital records, it is a well-known devotional image representing The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe... Licensing Details - Public Domain Status: Most traditional Catholic religious art of this style, often originating from the late 19th or early 20th centuries, is considered public domain because any original copyright has long since expired.