Ever Forget an Important Anniversary?

Have you ever forgotten an important anniversary or birthday?

Hopefully, it was not an event significant in your relationship with a spouse, parent, or child. It is a sad day when we forget.

In this Vincentian Mindwalk, I reflect on the most important anniversary of our lives

In 2021 Pope Francis asked a crowd…

If I were to ask you today, “which of you knows the exact date of your baptism?” I do not think there would be too many hands raised….

Yet, it is the day on which we were saved, it is the day on which we became children of God.

Now, those who do not know it should ask their godparents, their dad, their mom, an uncle, an aunt: “When was I baptised”? And that day should be remembered each year: it is the day on which we became children of God. Agreed?

Will you all do this? [Response from the crowd.] Eh, it is a so-so “yes”. [Laughter]. Let us proceed.

Full disclosure…

Some years ago, I had to check the date on a copy of my baptismal certificate!

What happened at Jesus’ Baptism

On the day of his baptism Jesus heard the words “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

What wonderful words—words that any child would be thrilled to hear from a parent!

Jesus knew that he was loved, but hearing it said so clearly set the tone for his life and ministry. He remembered his mission to bring that “Good News” to others.

People must have sensed something like that in the way he treated them. They were attracted to him.  They saw it in the way that he lived and brought that “Good News” to others.

People who were marginalized found it easy to approach Jesus. His sense of self did not depend on who was around him or what people had done.  He was prepared to eat with the sinners and outcasts, he was ready to touch lepers, he was ready to deal with Gentiles. 

He was not afraid to be in the minority, because he knew that he was loved deeply… and completely. His whole mission was to help people realize that they too heard those words of love.

Our Baptism

I don’t remember anything from my Baptism into Christ.

But I am finally waking up to the implications of my Baptism.  

Remembering my Baptism reminds me I am loved and called to live out the awareness of being loved and on a mission to help others wake up to that awareness.

Celebrating it renews my awareness of being a person who is trying to put on the mind of Jesus. 

I now understand my Baptism as the beginning of my journey of waking up to the realization that those words were spoken to me on the day of my Baptism. They were spoken to each of us.

The feast of the Baptism of Jesus the day after the Epiphany reminds us of that truth in his life and what a difference it made in ours. 

Let us remember how God whispered to us on the day of our Baptism: “you are my beloved child.“

I need to remember and celebrate that!

Let us pray that our memory be jogged so that we live and treat one another as God’s beloved children, people on whom God’s favor rests.

What do you think about your Baptism?

• Do you know the date of your Baptism?
• Do you celebrate your Baptism?
• How did Baptism change your life?
• Is Baptism still changing your life?
• What does Baptism really mean for you?