October 23, 2009
The Christian Journey
Longer baptismal preparation can be a gift to others in the Church
BY FATHER JIM SAUER
Catechesis and parish renewal will be better served if we would discontinue the “one-night” baptismal preparation programs because they focus primarily on the moment of baptism. One night provides insufficient time to contextualize baptism as the doorway into church life. Infant baptism provides our parishes with a “catechetical moment” to minister to parents and families. Our one-night baptismal programs have not produced the fruits we had desired, namely, that our young inactive Catholic parents would become more participative in our parishes’ sacramental, communal, faith formational and ministerial life. Once baptism is celebrated, parents have reached their goal — until First Communion preparation.
A lengthier baptismal preparation is not intended to make it “harder” for parents to baptize their babies. (Did you notice how that statement’s emphasis is itself inaccurate? The emphasis is still on “having their babies baptized” — instead of “baptizing them for the sake of participation in the church’s life.”)
Offering an extended baptismal preparation can enable parents to form a small faith sharing community. Instead of attending a weeknight session, ideally parents would participate in the same weekend Mass, share a light meal, and then have a faith sharing session. If parents gather twice a month for six sessions (totaling three months), they will likely bond together as a support group — a small faith sharing community within the larger parish.
(For 20 years, Father Art Baranowski and others have claimed how crucial these “base communities” are for contemporary parish renewal. Is not renewal one reason for introducing RENEW, Christ Renews His Parish, Why Catholic and other programs into parish life?)
This lengthier baptismal preparation provides parents with sufficient time to re-think the level of their commitment to Christ and the Church, which is central to personal conversion and parish renewal. Their peer ministry itself becomes the means for this faith renewal. Our parishes must recapture St. Paul’s theology of the “Body of Christ.” Baptism and Confirmation initiate us into the Body of Christ and Sunday Eucharist nurtures our commitment to it. How does baptism into Christ’s Body make a difference in our lives, our children’s, in the world?
Up to this point, we have focused on preparing parents who are inactive in the practice of their Catholic faith. What do we do with “practicing” Catholic parents? Parents who have had several children (and thus attended some baptismal preparation) ask me if they must attend this longer preparation period. Trying not to fall into “my people pleasing mode,” I ask, “Have you thought about it this way? I can see that your Catholic faith means a lot to you; you are raising your children to follow Jesus; you are involved in parish activities. Your presence in the sessions can be a gift to our inactive parents. Think what you can offer to these parents. You can share why the Catholic Church is important to you, how Sunday Mass participation as a family deepens your love for each other. You can discuss the religious practices you do at home. God can use your faith to strengthen the faith of those who are not as active or maybe completely inactive.”
God never gives us faith just for ourselves. God gives us faith to strengthen the faith of the other members of Christ’s Body. Parents active in parish life, who have had “X” children baptized, have an excellent opportunity to do precisely what baptism means — making disciples for Christ. One couple, expecting their sixth child, responded, “We never thought about it like that. It’s not just, ‘What can we get out of it, but what can we give?’” Baptism makes us Church for one another.