For Christina Mines, director of evangelization and catechesis for the Diocese of Hamilton in Ontario, the moment that moved her most at her children’s baptisms wasn’t where most might expect: the pouring of water, the anointing with sacred oils, the lighting of a candle.
What stayed with her most, she said, was the question asked at the very start of the baptismal rite: “What do you ask of God’s Church for your child?”
This is the moment where we get to present our children to the Church as God’s own beloved child—just like Christ was at his baptism: ‘This is my child, with whom I am very well pleased.’ And it is the responsibility of the Church, in that moment, to embrace and welcome and delight in that child in the same way.
That question, quietly planted at the start of the rite, can be the seed the homily helps take root and flourish in the hearts of the faithful. In this episode of “Preach,” Christina Mines and Ricardo da Silva, S.J., explore how preaching at baptisms offers a unique opportunity—and challenge—to engage millennial parents, practice radical hospitality, and invite families into the full life of the parish and an experience of God’s love that is inclusive and without judgment.
Ricardo shares how Christina’s experience connects to the Gospel often proclaimed at baptisms. “Sometimes I walk up to the child and say, ‘This is my daughter, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased,’” he says, echoing the words spoken from above when John baptizes Jesus in the Jordan. He then reminds the congregation that those same words are spoken over each and every one of us at our Baptism, and asks: “How does that change the way you approach the sacrament—your life—to know that you are loved, that you are cherished, that you are beloved, that you are chosen?”
[Listen now and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or on your favorite podcast app.]
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts