Baptism is immeasurable gift, Pope says

January 12, 2009

Pope Benedict XVI baptized 13 newborn children on January 11 during a Mass in the Sistine Chapel. The baptisms, performed by the Pontiff on the feast of the Baptism of Christ, followed an old Vatican tradition.

Pope Benedict added another note of tradition by celebrating Mass ad orientem, facing the high altar, as he had done last year. The master of ceremonies for papal liturgy, Msgr. Guido Marini, had observed in 2008 that the ad orientem posture drew attention to the "beauty and harmony" of the Sistine Chapel, and allowed the Pope to make "use of a possibility contemplated by liturgical norms."

In his homily the Holy Father said that Baptism is "the promise of God's great 'Yes,'" for which every Christian should always remain grateful. In this sacrament, he told the parents of the newborns, "we give back to God that which came from Him," explaining that a child is entrusted to the parents, but belongs only to the Creator. He said that parents must strive to "strike the right balance between the desire to dispose of their children as if they were a personal possession, forming them on the basis of their own ideas and desires, and a libertarian attitude expressed in allowing children to grow up in complete autonomy satisfying their every desire and aspiration in the belief that this is a way to cultivate their personality."

Later, during his midday Angelus audience, the Pope spoke again about Baptism, telling the crowd in St. Peter's Square that through this sacrament "human beings are introduced into Jesus' unique relationship with the Father." If Christians were fully aware of the magnitude of this great gift, he said, "our life would be a continuous grace."

 

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Further information:

• Pope baptizes 13 infants in Sistine Chapel (VIS)
• Baptism: gift, joy, responsibility (VIS)
• Understanding Baptism makes for a life of constant thanks, Pope Benedict says (CNA)