Lumen Fidei: The Gift of Baptism

In chapter 3 of Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis is talking about the role of the sacraments in the life of faith. In paragraphs 41 through 43, he talks specifically about the sacrament of baptism, and makes several salient points.

First, baptism is a communal thing: it is how the faith is passed on:

Baptism makes us see, then, that faith is not the achievement of isolated individuals; it is not an act which someone can perform on his own, but rather something which must be received by entering into the ecclesial communion which transmits God’s gift. No one baptizes himself, just as no one comes into the world by himself. Baptism is something we receive.

Baptism is, in fact, a gift: a gift of Christ to the Church, and of the older members of the Church to the new members.

Second, baptism doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it’s the next logical step in God’s revelation of Himself to us:

What are the elements of baptism which introduce us into this new “standard of teaching”? First, the name of the Trinity — the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit — is invoked upon the catechumen. Thus, from the outset, a synthesis of the journey of faith is provided. The God who called Abraham and wished to be called his God, the God who revealed his name to Moses, the God who, in giving us his Son, revealed fully the mystery of his Name, now bestows upon the baptized a new filial identity.

We are baptized not simply into the Church, but into the fullness of God’s revelation of Himself, a fullness we are called to explore.

Finally, these two aspects of baptism—a gift to be received, and a call to exploration—come together in the practice of infant baptism:

The structure of baptism, then, demonstrates the critical importance of cooperation between Church and family in passing on the faith. Parents are called, as Saint Augustine once said, not only to bring children into the world but also to bring them to God, so that through baptism they can be reborn as children of God and receive the gift of faith.

As parents, not only do we give our children the gift of baptism; we must lead them into that life of exploration of God’s goodness and glory.