Recently, I witnessed the Baptism of a dear child, Charlotte. This beautiful child was encircled by her parents, godparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends of the grandparents, the sisters from Benet Hill Monastery, two deacons of the church and Bishop Emeritus Hanifen who conferred the sacrament of baptism on this precious child. A million memories of passed baptisms crossed my mind as I listened to the words of baptism and watched  as holy water was poured on Charlotte’s forehead.

A child baptized in 2016 dates back to the baptism of Jesus by His cousin, John. What does this say to us today?  Jesus did not have to be baptized because He was Jesus and was born without sin. Jesus chose to be baptized to show us the importance of Baptism. In baptism, we are called to take our place in the communion of saints and we are baptized into the priesthood of Jesus Christ.  Imagine the manifestation of baby Charlotte.  She is a baby called to be Jesus to the world and to everyone she meets.  Boggles the mind, doesn’t it?  And yet, this is what we are all called to be.  We are all called to be Jesus to one another and just as Jesus’s baptism was the beginning of His journey so to is our Baptism.  May we, as well as Charlotte, follow into the footsteps of Jesus.

Evangeline Salazar, OSB