  RADIO VATICANA REPORT: One year on from the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the people of the nation were in Pope Benedict XVI’s prayers this Sunday. The Holy Father told the thousands gathered in St Peter’s Square that he has sent Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of Cor Unam, the Pontifical council charged with fostering charity, to the Caribbean nation to express his closeness and that of the entire Church to the troubled population. He also underlined that the “terrible earthquake” has been followed by a grave cholera epidemic, and called for prayers and support for the Haitian people.Before the Angelus prayer, the Pope recalled Sunday’s feast of the Baptism of Our Lord; when the Church; “contemplates once more the revelation of God who is close to humanity, who visits his people in the person of Jesus Christ, in order to set them free from the tyranny of sin and death”. He prayed “may we open the doors of our hearts to Christ and welcome him into the world of today”. As is tradition the Holy Father marked the feast by bestowing the Sacrament of Baptism on newborn babies. Sunday morning in the magnificent setting of the Sistine Chapel, 21 infants ranging between four months and four weeks and all children of Vatican employees, were welcomed into the Church in a joyful and intimate ceremony presided over by the Pope. In his homily Pope Benedict described Baptism as an act of love. God he said, “in gifting us the faith.. has given us what is most precious in life, that is, the most beautiful and real reason for which to live”. “By Baptism, these children are gifted an indelible spiritual seal, their "character" that marks them forever as belonging to the Lord and makes them living members of his mystical body, which is the Church”. The Holy Father then called on parishes to support parents and families as they help these children grow and mature in faith. He said, “Collaboration between the Christian community and family is greatly needed in the current social context, in which the family institution is threatened from all sides, and finds itself having to face many difficulties in its mission to educate in the faith. The lack of stable cultural reference points and the rapid transformation to which society is continuously subject, makes the commitment to education very difficult. Therefore, it is necessary that the parishes strive increasingly to support families, as the small domestic churches in their task of transmitting the faith”. Below a draft Vatican Radio translation of Pope Benedict XVI’s homily. Original text in Italian: Dear brothers and sisters, It is my pleasure to warmly welcome you this morning, especially you parents and godparents of the 21 infants upon whom, in a few moments time, I will have the joy of administering the Sacrament of Baptism. As has become tradition, this ritual takes place again this year as part of the Holy Eucharist during which we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. With this the Feast, on the first Sunday after the Epiphany, the Christmas season concludes with the manifestation of the Lord in the Jordan. According to the evangelist Matthew (3:13-17), Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John, in fact, all of Palestine flocked to hear the preaching of this great prophet, the announcement of the coming of the Kingdom of God, and be baptized, that is to submit themselves to the sign of penance that calls to conversion from sin. While it is called baptism, it was not the sacramental rite which we celebrate today, as you well know, in fact it is by his death and resurrection that Jesus institutes the Sacraments and gives birth to the Church. What was administered by John, was rather an act of repentance, an act which called for humility before God, for a new beginning: by immersing themselves in the water, the penitents acknowledged their sins, implored God for the purification of their sins and were sent out to change their error of their ways. So, when the Baptist sees Jesus who, in a line with sinners, comes to be baptized, he is stunned; recognizing him as the Messiah, the Holy One of God, He who is without sin, John expresses his confusion: he himself, the Baptist wants to be baptized by Jesus, but Jesus tells him not to resist, to agree to carry out this act, fitting to “fulfil all righteousness". With these words, Jesus shows that he came into the world to carry out the will of He who sent him, to do everything that the Father asks him, that it is in obedience to the Father that he has agreed to become a man. This first act reveals that Jesus is the Son of God, true God as the Father, he is the One who "humbles himself" to become one of us, He who made man agreed to humble himself to death on the cross ( cf Phil 2:7). The baptism of Jesus, which we commemorate today, fits into this logic of humility: it is the gesture of He who wants to be one of us in everyway and who stands in line with sinners, He who is without sin allows Himself to be treated like a sinner (cf. 2 Cor 5:21), to carry on His shoulders the burden of guilt of all humanity. He is the "servant of Yahweh" of which the prophet Isaiah spoke in the first reading (see 42.1). His humility is dictated by His wish to establish full communion with humanity, the desire to achieve genuine solidarity with man and his condition. Jesus gesture anticipates the Cross, the acceptance of death for our sins. This act of self abasement, in which Jesus wants to totally conform Himself to the Father's plan of love, expresses the perfect harmony of will and purpose that exists between persons of the Holy Trinity. In this act of love, the Spirit of God manifests himself as a dove and comes over him, and at that moment the love that unites Jesus and the Father is witnessed, by those who attend the baptism, in a voice from on high, which they all hear. The Father openly revealed to people the deep communion uniting him to the Son: the voice that resonates from on high states that Jesus is totally obedient to the Father and that this obedience is an expression of love that binds them together. Therefore, the Father is pleased with Jesus, the Son, because he recognises in the gesture Jesus’ desire to follow his will in everything: " This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased " (Mt 3 17). The words of the Father, are also a prelude to the victory of the resurrection. Dear Parents: the Baptism you ask today for your children, also places them in this mutual exchange of love that is between God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, for this gesture I am about to make, sweeps the love of God over them, flooding them with His gifts. Through the washing with water, your children become part of the life of Jesus, who died on the cross to free us from sin and in rising again, conquered death. So, spiritually immersed into his death and resurrection, they are freed from original sin and begin their life of grace, which is the very life of the Risen Jesus. "He - said St. Paul - gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:14). Dear friends, in gifting us the faith, the Lord has given us what is most precious in life, that is, the most beautiful and real reason for which to live: it is by grace that we believe in God, that we know his love , he wants to save us and deliver us from evil. Now you, dear parents, godparents, ask the Church to accept these children to her bosom, to give them Baptism, and make this request because of the gift of faith that you yourselves have, in turn, received. Together with the prophet Isaiah, every Christian can say: "The Lord formed me as his servant from the womb" (cf. 49.5), so, dear parents, your children are a precious gift of the Lord, who has reserved their hearts as His own, to be able to fill them with His love. Through the sacrament of Baptism, he consecrates them and calls them to follow Jesus, through the realization of their vocation according to the particular design of love the Father has in mind for each of them; the goal of this earthly pilgrimage will be full communion with Him in eternal happiness. By Baptism, these children are gifted an indelible spiritual seal, their "character" that marks them forever as belonging to the Lord and makes them living members of his mystical body, which is the Church. While becoming part of the People of God, for these children a path of holiness and conformity to Jesus starts today, a reality that is placed within them like the seed of a beautiful tree, which must be made to grow. Therefore, understanding the magnitude of this gift from the earliest centuries, care was taken to give Baptism to infants at birth. Certainly, free and conscious adherence to this life of faith and love is also required, and that is why it is necessary that, after baptism, they will be educated in faith, educated according to the wisdom of Scripture and the teachings of the Church, so that the seed of faith, which they are receiving today, grows in them and reaches full Christian maturity. The Church, which welcomes them among her children, is responsible, together with the parents and godparents, in accompanying them on this path of growth. Collaboration between the Christian community and family is greatly needed in the current social context, in which the family institution is threatened from all sides, and finds itself having to face many difficulties in its mission to educate in the faith. The lack of stable cultural reference points and the rapid transformation to which society is continuously subject, makes the commitment to education very difficult. Therefore, it is necessary that the parishes strive increasingly to support families, as the small domestic churches in their task of transmitting the faith. Dear parents, I thank the Lord with you for the gift of the baptism of these your children; As we pray for them, we invoke the abundant gifts of the Holy Spirit, who today consecrates them in the image of Christ priest, prophet and king. We entrust them to the maternal intercession of Mary, asking for them health and long lives so that they can grow and mature in the faith, and bring, with their lives, the fruits of holiness and love. Amen! SOURCE: |
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