Feast of the Baptism
of the Lord
Cycle B
January 11, 2015 4:00pm,
10:30am and 12 noon
Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air
Living Baptism: My Early Years
I
imagine that I am like most of you in that I was baptized as a baby.
Obviously,
I don’t remember that event but I do remember this. From my earliest years, my
parents made God, faith, and religion a priority.
They
took my brother and me to Mass every Sunday.
They made our First Reconciliation, First Communion, and Confirmation
significant events.
They
would always review our religion lessons and homework with us. They made sure that we learned certain basic
prayers, like the Our Father, the rosary, and grace before meals.
They
had religious images in our home, especially a crucifix in every bedroom. And they taught us right from wrong, like
telling the truth and not telling lies.
Living Baptism: My Later Years
This faith that I got in my early years changed and, I think,
matured as I got older.
So, for example, the prayers I learned as a child became enriched
by the Scripture. The gospels became central to my way of prayer.
I came to realize that the sacraments were not just rituals to be done. Instead, they really enrich my relationship
with God and help me on the journey of life.
Speaking of that, I came to understand morality as not just
obeying or disobeying rules. Instead, I
came to understand our moral code on sexuality and on everything as part of
living life with commitment and integrity.
I also came to understood that social justice was part of morality. I needed to care for the little guy, as my
father would say.
I have to say that all of this later development in my faith was
built on what I got in my earlier years.
It probably would not have happened without that.
Lessons about Baptism
Now, just to be clear, my family was imperfect and we had tensions
and conflicts like any family.
I am only saying that as I look back, my baptism was the beginning
of a lifelong journey with the Lord. And
I am saying that I want the parents of this parish to look upon your children’s
baptism in this way – as the beginning of a lifelong journey with the Lord.
So, please do not take the approach that you don’t have to bother
with faith formation classes in the years when your children are not receiving
First Eucharist or Confirmation. Please
don’t do that because your child will be missing a lot of important faith
development.
Faith and our relationship with God must develop step by
step. It must develop in age appropriate
ways and we adults, especially parents need to assure that this happens for our
children.
One more thing: please don’t take the approach that you want your
children to make up their own mind on religion and so you won’t emphasize it
very much. Well, of course, they will eventually
make up their own minds on everything.
But the important thing is to give your children a foundation for
making up their mind about faith and religion when they get older. You know, when children are young, we guide
them in what to eat – like Gerber’s fruits and eventually vegetables like
spinach.
Someday, they will decide what they are going to eat, but we try
to teach them good habits. We have to do
the same with religion and give them a good foundation.
Conclusion
So my point is this: let’s make baptism for our children today the
beginning of an entire life lived in relationship with God.
If you are parents with children at home today, I invite you to consider
these ideas. And if you are not parents
with children at home today, try to share these ideas with others who are
raising their children.
