"What If God Was One of Us?" in Baptism Homily

Homily #19

There are a lot of unchurched young adults that come to baptisms, so I take that opportunity to invite them back to the Church if they have been away from the practice of their Faith.  Joan Osborne's "What If God was One of Us?" stuck in my mind when it came time to deliver the homily which I did without notes.  I don't think I'd do this on a regular basis, but it just turned out that way.  I couldn't remember her name at the time.  I hope that, as I blog this, that is a decent role model of sorts.

This was the shell I used to baptize the babies and toddlers.  I used it because it reminded me of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's Coat of Arms which had a pilgrimage shell on it.  I think I used this when I baptized by daughter, but I can't remember for sure.  I'm sure one of these days a photo will one day surface.  And what a joyful sight it will be for me to see!

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St. Catherine's, Vallejo

Sat. of the 1st Week of Ordinary Time

Jan. 17, 2015

I baptized 6 beautiful infants and toddlers which brings the total number of baptisms I've done to 19. 

After the Rite of Baptism, I hung around the people -- the flock -- who were taking pictures to give a kind word here and welcome strangers back home to the Church there. On two separate occassions, the parents of two infants present said that they plan to have their children baptized.

For practicing Catholics, including a cultural reference to a pop song may raise an eyebrow, but it was the culture and my audience that I had in mind when giving the homily and even in the classes.

I can think of three guys in particular with whom I spoke.  I asked them about working out at the gym since they looked well built, asked for some pointers and joked around with them, and I also told them that they were always welcome in the Church.  I do take for granted that I am immersed in God and the practice of my faith every minute of the day and have been trained and studied and been blessed with such opportunities to grow, but for many people this simply is not possible for different reasons.  God is a difficult topic for many to talk about.

One family had three baptized.  They were so kind.  The husband wasn't Catholic, but he was so respectful of what when on.  I pray he becomes Catholic one day.  One of the moms said that she was classmates with my wife, which blew me away.  Another baby, I poured water on his face, but later it gave me reason to give him a little extra TLC during the ritual, esp. with the chrism that I later anointed him with...I gave him a gentle pat on the cheek as a way for me to "make up" for the extra water on his face.  I almost did that with Faith Marie and heard some in the assembly gasp for a moment.  Another toddler I told him to become a great saint one day.

On my drive home, I decided to stop by the store to put up a few things.  On the store radio was playing Joan Osborne's What If God was One of Us!  That was pretty neat.  I had to record it here for keep's sake and 'cause I don't know if people would believe me if I told them.

I think these events are a good way to put the New Evangelization into practice, and something more systematic among the dioceses and deaneries should be done to invite people who have lapsed in practicing their Catholic Faith back home.

 After everyone left the church, and I made sure everything was neatly put away, I told Jesus what a joy and a gift it was to baptize.

 

baptism certificates