Today's meditation: The sanctification of the waters

Christ appeared to the world and, by putting order in the disordered world, made him beautiful. He took upon himself the sin of the world and drove out the enemy of the world; sanctified the springs of the waters and illuminated the souls of men. To miracles he added ever greater miracles.
Today the land and the sea have divided the Savior's grace among them, and the whole world is filled with joy, because the present day shows us a greater number of miracles than in the previous feast. In fact, on the solemn day of the past Christmas of the Lord, the earth rejoiced, because it led the Lord into a manger; on the present day of Epiphany the sea flinches with joy; he rejoices because he received the blessings of sanctification in the middle of the Jordan.
In past solemnity he was presented to us as a small child, who demonstrated our imperfection; in today's feast we see him as a mature man who lets us glimpse the one who, perfect, proceeds from the perfect. In that the king wore the purple of the body; in this the source surrounds the river and almost covers it. Come on then! See the wonderful miracles: the sun of justice washing in the Jordan, the fire immersed in the waters and God sanctified by a man.
Today every creature sings hymns and cries out: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" (Ps 117,26). Blessed is he who comes at all times, because he did not come now for the first time ... And who is he? You say it clearly, O blessed David: He is the Lord God and he shone for us (cf. Ps 117,27). And not only does the prophet David say this, but the apostle Paul also echoes it with his testimony and breaks out in these words: The saving grace of God appeared to all men to teach us (cf. Tt 2,11). Not to some, but to all. In fact, to all Jews and Greeks, he gives the saving grace of baptism, offering baptism to all as a common benefit.
Come on, look at the strange flood, bigger and more precious than the flood that came in the time of Noah. Then the water of the flood made mankind perish; but now the water of baptism, through the power of the one who has been baptized, brings the dead back to life. Then the dove, bearing an olive branch in its beak, indicated the fragrance of the perfume of Christ the Lord; now instead the Holy Spirit, descending in the form of a dove, shows us the Lord himself, full of mercy towards us.