James

Here’s a picture of James, who was baptized last Sunday in our church. Most of us were baptized when we were babies, but James wasn’t. So he decided when he turned 17 that he wanted to be Catholic, like you. He learned about Jesus and said, “I want to follow his way of faith and love.” Isn’t this great? Some of us were in church and saw Jim go down into the big clay bowl of water.

 Look at the picture; he’s all wet! He met Jesus for the first time in the water. Water means new life! Water means getting clean! Water means waking up. When James went into the water he was saying, “Jesus, take me by the hand, wake me up from a sleepy way of life and lead me into your new way of kindness, gentleness, goodness, honesty, purity, believing!” Let’s be happy for this young man – now he’s a Christian with us!

 We wore a tiny white robe on Baptism Day, but Jim’s robe is bigger, of course. A Christian, following Jesus is a beautiful thing – how happy this guy is! In baptism, Saint Paul says, we take off the dirty clothes of lies and hatred, meanness and being sneaky and put on the brightness of living the way of Jesus.

 And he’s carrying a large and beautiful candle made of beeswax. The flame came from the big Easter Candle. Jim believes that Jesus rose from the dead and he asks Jesus to shine in his life so he can see how to live like a saint.

And the priest put a holy oil on his head called chrism. Chrism makes us shiny – like Jesus giving us bright and happy faces. I want to reflect Jesus – like a mirror. And chrism smells wonderful. I want to leave the lovely fragrance of Jesus wherever I go – like perfume stays in a room for awhile.

Notice too, that Jim’s family is there with him – his mom and dad and sister. When we know Jesus, we know him with other people. We’re not alone. The other people are called the Church. These are the people we come to be with on Sunday at Mass. So James received his First Holy Communion on Sunday too. It was a wonderful day for him. Let’s pray for him, that he’ll stay true to Jesus – prayerful, helpful, kind and happy!

Maybe you could ask mom if your baptism candle is kept somewhere safe in the house. Sometimes baptism robes are kept safe too. Ask where it is! Maybe this Sunday, we could all thank God for our own baptism day and for the love of Jesus, and ask for Christ-love to grow in us and our family.