Since the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord on Jan. 9, I have been pondering the significance of the sacrament, not only in relation to what it means to be a baptized person myself, but also what it means to be a parent of four baptized young people.
Our oldest child was baptized 22 years ago on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which fell on Jan. 9 that year as well. This year, on the anniversary of the first time my husband and I brought one of our tiny babies to the font, I recalled a comment someone made that day about how significant it was to be baptized on such a feast. I do remember agreeing that it was special, but I also felt it was merely a lovely coincidence.
You see, since my parents live out-of-province, we always planned our children’s baptisms well in advance. We knew each of their baptism dates before we even knew their birthdays! We “booked” the baptisms before we could book flights and, for our December baby, Jan. 9 simply seemed like a good date. I now realize that the timing – as always – was in the Father’s hands.
God knew that every year on the feast day, as I would listen to the readings, the homilies, and the hymns, I would reflect more on the significance of that day in 2000. At that time, in the blur of new motherhood, I know that my own understanding of what it means to have a child baptized was – like my baby – still in its infancy.
Tradition and faith inspired my husband and I to make baptism a priority as we prepared for the arrivals of our children. We wanted them to enter the Christian family and be cleansed of original sin while they were very young, and we wanted our loved ones included in the celebrations. Yet, while I initially regarded this sacrament as a gift to my children – which it was – as time passes, I’m recognizing that this gift transforms into a veritable responsibility as each baptized person grows up.
Bishop Robert Barron in his homily on Jan. 9, 2022, stated, “Friends, when we are baptized, we are grafted onto Christ, who has anointed us all as priests, prophets, and kings.”
Yes, my husband and I wanted our children to enter a life with Jesus, but I don’t think either of us ever used a word as strong as “grafted” when we reflected on what we were undertaking, as their first teachers, and what it would mean for them in their futures.
In many articles I read, I am reminded of the responsibility of “all the baptized.” Even within our Church law, Canon 204 states that by virtue of baptism, we are “called to exercise the mission which God has entrusted to the Church.”
While those baptized as babies appear to receive the sacrament passively, baptism is anything but passive. “All the baptized” are called to fulfill the expectations of one “grafted” onto Christ. Furthermore, this grafting is timeless; therefore, neither death, nor sin, nor complacency removes the seal of baptism from our souls.
Just as our parents and godparents did for us, my husband and I united our children to Christ. We may not all be ordained priests, but each baptized person is called to be a priest in the sense of joining Christ in his mission to spread the Gospel, to pray for and serve others, and even to unite with him in his suffering. In the presence of family and community – in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – we vowed to not only find our place in the Body of Christ, but to help our children do the same.
I am so grateful that our first child’s baptism “coincidentally” fell on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. I am confident that, just as he inspired us to desire baptism for our children, God also helped us choose that date so that every year we could revisit our first moments of Christian parenting, with renewed vision and maturing faith.
As daunting as the responsibility attached to the gift of baptism may seem, it comforts me to recall that, in this permanent union with Christ, we are never alone in our mission. Forever, “all the baptized” are in the Father’s hands.
