We didn't get any better family Christmas photos...I think our auto-focus on the camera is broken since photos from a farther away turn out fuzzy but those from only a few feet away are fine. Oh well. We are having a peaceful Christmas Octave here in Honduras.
Tomorrow is Emmanuel's Baptismal day. He and his cousin Grace were baptized at the same time by their uncle Fr. Brian and share the same godparents, Brent and Brianna Eilers.
Tomorrow I will be the proxy godmother for some friends's baby, Maria Theresa . Her real godmother is her mom's cousin who is in the States for a month or two acting as the guardian for one of the neighborhood children. The infant needed a heart surgery, but the mother is pregnant and is not allowed into the US. So Etel volunteered to go. It is a very selfless act as she was away from her family for Christmas; it's her first time to the US and she's not fluent in English (though she may be by the time she returns); and she is giving an indefinite amount of time to care for a child not her own and barely known to her. She's also missing this baptism, and so I am filling in.
Here in Honduras, or at least in our neighborhood of Comayagua, you get a godparent (in Spanish, padrino) for everything...Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, and even graduation from high school. To me that seems like it might lessen the value of a godparent, though, I suppose, in the States we lessen the value of godparents if all we think of them is someone who always gives us a gift or sends a card on our birthday and Christmas. I think the value of a godparent is relative to how and why a particular person is chosen and if that person knows what their role is.
Soon after we moved here, we were asked to be padrinos for a little boy of one of the families well-known by the friars and even by Daniel from his time here before. We said yes without really thinking about it. It's not that we aren't glad to support this boy's spiritual growth...it is just that we realized that after we move on from here, we're not going to be a prescence in his life to encourage and help instruct him in the Faith. We may never see him again. We'll pray for him and try to send letters, but if we are to really take our role as godparents seriously, I think we should be more present and constant figures in his life. After that Baptism, whenever we were asked again we said no and encouraged them to find someone at the parish or in their family who they see as a good example of living the Catholic faith. I am hoping we'll be able to find a Honduran who will also take on the role of padrino for our little godson when we leave.
I like celebrating baptism days because when we think about it, our baptism is just as important as our birth...it is our birth into life with Christ. The Catechism says this,
"Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word." "
"Baptism is God's most beautiful and magnificent gift....We call it gift, grace, anointing, enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal, and most precious gift. It is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own; grace since it is given even to the guilty; Baptism because sin is buried in the water; anointing for it is priestly and royal as are those who are anointed; enlightenment because it radiates light; clothing since it veils our shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God's Lordship."
-St. Gregory Of Nazianzus, Oratio 40, 3-4: PG 36, 361C.
So "Happy Baptism Day to Emmanuel, Grace, and Maria Theresa!"
Tomorrow is Emmanuel's Baptismal day. He and his cousin Grace were baptized at the same time by their uncle Fr. Brian and share the same godparents, Brent and Brianna Eilers.
Tomorrow I will be the proxy godmother for some friends's baby, Maria Theresa . Her real godmother is her mom's cousin who is in the States for a month or two acting as the guardian for one of the neighborhood children. The infant needed a heart surgery, but the mother is pregnant and is not allowed into the US. So Etel volunteered to go. It is a very selfless act as she was away from her family for Christmas; it's her first time to the US and she's not fluent in English (though she may be by the time she returns); and she is giving an indefinite amount of time to care for a child not her own and barely known to her. She's also missing this baptism, and so I am filling in.
Here in Honduras, or at least in our neighborhood of Comayagua, you get a godparent (in Spanish, padrino) for everything...Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, and even graduation from high school. To me that seems like it might lessen the value of a godparent, though, I suppose, in the States we lessen the value of godparents if all we think of them is someone who always gives us a gift or sends a card on our birthday and Christmas. I think the value of a godparent is relative to how and why a particular person is chosen and if that person knows what their role is.
Soon after we moved here, we were asked to be padrinos for a little boy of one of the families well-known by the friars and even by Daniel from his time here before. We said yes without really thinking about it. It's not that we aren't glad to support this boy's spiritual growth...it is just that we realized that after we move on from here, we're not going to be a prescence in his life to encourage and help instruct him in the Faith. We may never see him again. We'll pray for him and try to send letters, but if we are to really take our role as godparents seriously, I think we should be more present and constant figures in his life. After that Baptism, whenever we were asked again we said no and encouraged them to find someone at the parish or in their family who they see as a good example of living the Catholic faith. I am hoping we'll be able to find a Honduran who will also take on the role of padrino for our little godson when we leave.
I like celebrating baptism days because when we think about it, our baptism is just as important as our birth...it is our birth into life with Christ. The Catechism says this,
"Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word." "
"Baptism is God's most beautiful and magnificent gift....We call it gift, grace, anointing, enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal, and most precious gift. It is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own; grace since it is given even to the guilty; Baptism because sin is buried in the water; anointing for it is priestly and royal as are those who are anointed; enlightenment because it radiates light; clothing since it veils our shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God's Lordship."
-St. Gregory Of Nazianzus, Oratio 40, 3-4: PG 36, 361C.
So "Happy Baptism Day to Emmanuel, Grace, and Maria Theresa!"
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