When my eleven-year-old daughter saw the title of my article she excitedly said, “Finally, you are writing about me!” 

 

My first inclination was to respond with a goofy dad joke, but as I pondered the correct wisecrack, I realized she was correct. Maybe for a different reason than she hopes for, but we will get to that soon enough.

 

Over the past few decades, there has been an alarming decline in the number of parents seeking baptism for their children. While the reasons for this are numerous, there is a common element. We have lost sight of the glory of this sacrament. 

 

St. Gregory of Nazianzus said, “Baptism is God’s most beautiful and magnificent gift …” This is a rather large claim considering the abundance and extravagance of God’s gifts. 

 

St. Gregory was in awe of the supernatural reality taking place in this sacrament. In baptism, we are baptized into Jesus, the Son of God. We enter into Christ’s divine sonship and are caught up into the life of the Trinity. Citing Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says we become “‘a new creature,’ an adopted son of God, who has become a ‘partaker of the divine nature.’” (1265). 

 

Through baptism, we are transformed from a creature of God to a child of God. What’s more, this re-creation opens us to a participation in God’s own life. The whole course of our life and eternity is changed by this grace. Salvation, which is “impossible for human beings,” is now made possible by God (Lk 18:27). 

 

This is why Jesus, when referring to baptism, says, “‘Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.’” (Jn 3:5). 

 

As human beings, we are a body and soul. It is fitting that God has given us the sacraments which are both material and spiritual and therefore minster to the whole person. God chose material signs to witness to the spiritual reality taking place. Water is a natural symbol of life, cleansing, refreshment and birth, all of which truly take place in the sacrament. 

 

The words of baptism— “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” — are directly given to us by Jesus as part of the Great Commission (Mt 28:19). This sublime formula seals us in the name and person of the Most Holy Trinity. 

 

In addition to uniting us to God, baptism unites us to the Church, the Body of Christ. 

 

This is more than joining a fraternal club of like-minded people. It is a participation in the kingdom of God here on earth. It is in the Great Commission that we in the Church receive the charge to invite others to the rebirth of baptism. This treasure is for “all nations” and every generation. 

 

In sharing our admiration and gratitude, we counter the misperception that baptism is an antiquated tradition of our grandparents’ era. Similarly erroneous, parents may delay baptism, asserting the child should choose it for themselves. This arises from a misunderstanding that baptism is predominantly an act of self-expression. 

 

Baptism, as in all the sacraments, is not primarily about what we do, but what God does in us. God pours His divine life into us and radically transforms us. It is precisely because of the theological virtues given to us through baptism that we are able to choose God for ourselves and respond to his love. 

 

As parents and grandparents, we desire the greatest good for our children. What greater good could we hope for than God’s grace and divine adoption? Such grace truly makes my daughter and all the baptized “God’s most beautiful and magnificent” children.