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General Audience on Baptism: Pope Reflects on Us Becoming God’s Children

Dear brothers and sisters: In our continuing catechesis on the sacrament of Baptism, we now turn to the words and gestures that disclose its meaning as the beginning of our new life in Christ. First, the parents are asked what name they give to their child. The name we receive at Baptism is a constant reminder that each of us is a unique person, loved by God and called to respond to that love at every moment of our lives. Born again by water and the Holy Spirit, we become God’s children and begin a journey of faith and growth in holiness in union with Jesus, the eternal Son of the Father. After promising to raise their child in the Church’s faith, the parents and godparents then trace the sign of the cross on his or her forehead. The mystery of the cross accompanies us at every moment of our lives, for now we belong to Christ and share in his Passover from death to life. Each day, as we make the sign of the cross, may we rejoice in the grace of our baptism and seek to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of redemption, rebirth and eternal life bestowed by Christ our Saviour.