By Brea Cannon
Connecting Liturgy and Life
Editor’s note: For 2026, the weekly “Connecting Faith and Life” column has been renamed “Connecting Liturgy and Life.” The column consists of reflections on Part Two of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), which focuses on the Liturgy and the Sacraments.
cf. CCC 1246-1261
My family and I recently attended the Chrism Mass at St. Benedict Cathedral during Holy Week. That Mass is one of my favorite Masses in the whole year. This year, the Mass was particularly special for my family and me. I love the Chrism Mass every year, but I have found great joy participating in the Chrism Mass whenever I attend while expecting a child. This year was one of those years — as my family and I patiently await the birth of a little boy, we were blessed to be at the Mass where the oil that will be used at his baptism was blessed. As we continue to wait and pray for the newest member of our family to arrive, we have hope in the joy to come and grace that this child will be given through his baptism.
Baptism is a sacrament of initiation and the first sacrament one receives when entering the Catholic Church. The Church is very clear about who can receive this sacrament, “Every person not yet baptized and only such a person is able to be baptized” (CCC 1246). The Church baptizes both babies and adults. Baptisms for infants date back to the second century and gives the child a priceless gift of rebirth and frees him or her from the power of darkness that entered the world with our first parents Adam and Eve. Receiving baptism as an adult has also been a practice since the early Church — even then entire households were received together.
The baptisms of my children have been some of the most joyful moments in my life. The grace and faith that have blossomed since those precious baptism days have filled our family with a peace and a holy adventure that can only exist when it is fostered and cared for with intention. As my husband and I chose our children’s godparents, we were intentional about choosing individuals that we knew us, and ultimately our children, could walk with on their journey to the eternal. This lifelong commitment to growth in our faith is reflected in the Catechism’s teaching on baptism. “Baptism is a sacrament of faith … for all the baptized, children or adults, faith must grow after baptism” (CCC 1253-1254). Baptism is a source of new life in Christ for which the entire Christian life springs forward for all the baptized, children and adults. There is a great responsibility that follows. For the grace of baptism to unfold in children, the parents’ and godparents’ help is important. They are responsible for the development and safeguarding of the grace given at baptism.
We all have a duty as members of the Body of Christ, as parents, godparents, grandparents and as friends to spread the Gospel to all nations, and in every aspect of our lives — the commission given to the apostles. While many in our world today question the need to baptize, Jesus made it clear that baptism is necessary for salvation. “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew’” (John 3:5-7). We have to have faith that those who have died before baptism find hope in our Lord. In our world there are many reasons one might die before baptism, children included. It is important to remember that, while the Church does not know of any other means that assures our salvation, the Church also gently counsels the anxious in teaching that “God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments” (CCC 1257). We have to have hope that our Lord who said, “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,” (Mark 10:14) will welcome those who seek truth and love him.
As we have just celebrated Holy Week with the blessing of the chrism oil used for baptism, the Easter Vigil when many catechumens entered the Church and we all renewed our own baptismal promises, let us never forget the power of grace that we each received in baptism and to foster the faith to continue to grow in that grace our entire lives.