Pope baptizes children on Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis baptized 32 children on Sunday, the Feast of the Baptism
of the Lord. The celebration took place, as is customary, in the Sistine Chapel.
Included
among those baptized by the Holy Father were primarily the new-born children of Vatican
employees.
In his homily at the Mass, Pope Francis noted that Jesus Himself
had no need of Baptism, but that with His Divinity, united to His human body, Jesus
blessed the waters and gave them the ability to be used in Baptism. Ascending into
Heaven, the Lord commanded His followers to go into the world to baptize – a command
that the Church fulfils even to the current day.
The children baptized today,
he said, are a link in the chain; in time, they will return to have their own children
baptized. This implies a duty on the part of parents, the duty of transmitting the
Faith to their children, so that they in turn can pass it along to their children.
The Holy Father concluded his homily with a special word of affection for
the newly baptized children. “Today the choir sings,” he said, “but the most beautiful
choir is [the choir] of children” making noise. He continued, “Some are crying, because
they are uncomfortable, or because they are hungry. If they are hungry, mothers, give
them something to eat... they are the central figures, the protagonists [of this celebration].”
It was with this “awareness of being the transmitters of faith” that Pope Francis
continued on to the ceremony of Baptism.
Below, please find Vatican
Radio's translation of the complete text of Pope Francis’ homily at the Solemn Mass
for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord:
Jesus did not need to be
baptized, but the first theologians say that, with His body, with His divinity, in
the Baptism He blessed all the waters, so that water would have the power to give
baptism. And then, before ascending to Heaven, Jesus told us to go into all the world
to baptize. And from that day until the present day, this has been an unbroken chain:
they baptized their children, and their children [baptized] their children, and their
children [and so on]... And even today this chain continues.
These children
are a link in a chain. You parents have the baby boy or girl to be baptized, but in
a few years it will be they who will have a baby to be baptized, or a grandchild...
And so goes the chain of faith! What does this mean? I would just tell you this: you
are the ones that transmit the faith, the transmitters, you have a duty to pass on
the faith to these children. It 's the most beautiful legacy that you leave to them:
the faith! Only this. Today, take this thought home with you. We must be transmitters
of the faith. Think about this, always think of how to transmit the faith to the children.
Today
the choir is singing; but the most beautiful choir is that of the children, who are
making noise... Some cry because they are not comfortable, or because they are hungry:
if they are hungry, moms, give them something to eat, calmly, because they are the
central figures, the protagonists [of this celebration]. And now, with this awareness
of being transmitters of the faith, let us continue the ceremony of Baptism.