This weekend we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a good time for us to reflect on the importance of our own baptism, which is modelled after that of Jesus. Here are a few thoughts from Pope Francis on the sacrament of baptism:
- “Being holy is not a privilege for a few, as if someone had a large inheritance; in baptism, we all have an inheritance to be able to become saints. Holiness is a vocation for everyone. Thus we are all called to walk on the path of holiness, and this path has a name and a face: the face of Jesus Christ. He teaches us to become saints” (November 1st, 2013)
- “We, by baptism, are immersed in that inexhaustible source of life which is the death of Jesus, the greatest act of love in all of history; and thanks to this love we can live new life, no longer at the mercy of evil, of sin, and of death, but in communion with God and with our brothers and sisters…today, at home, go look, ask about the date of your baptism, and that way you will keep in mind that beautiful day of baptism.” (January 8th, 2014)
3.”Whoever does not face challenges, whoever does not take up challenges, is not living. Your willingness and your abilities, combined with the power of the Holy Spirit who abides in each of us from the day of baptism, allows you to be more than more spectators, they allow you to be protagonists in contemporary events” (November 30th, 2015)
4.”And this is what baptism works in us: it gives us grace and hands on the faith to us…Everyone :the littlest one is also a missionary; and the one who seems to be the greatest is a disciple” (January 15th, 2014)
5.”Thanks to baptism, we are capable of forgiving and of loving even those who offend us and do evil to us. By our baptism, we recognize in the least and in the poor the face of the Lord who visits us and makes himself close. Baptism helps us to recognize in the face of the needy, the suffering, and also of our neighbour, the face of Jesus. All this is possible thanks to the power of baptism” (January 8th, 2014)