Marriage & Family Life: Parents have awesome responsibility
by Diocese of Des Moines | April 25, 2022
April has been doubly blessed for my family; as we get to enter into the joy of the Easter season, when we remember and renew our baptismal promises, we also get to bring our youngest child, Louisa Day Storey, to the font of baptism.
Louisa was born into our family in March, and now she will be born again into the life of Christ. She will become a “member of Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1265).
As Louisa’s parents, Kara and I have the profound joy and responsibility of raising her in the faith. This means bringing her to the waters of baptism, and it also means living in such a way that the graces of baptism will be recognizable in her life. Just as I remind all my kids daily of my love for them, I am also called to point to the Father’s love for them, so that the grace of the sacrament of baptism becomes a recognizable experience in their lives.
This responsibility would be overwhelming were it not for the promise that I don’t have to rely on my own efforts or abilities; God’s grace can draw goodness out of my failures, and he is able to perfect what is imperfect in my work.
Louisa will receive an “indelible spiritual mark” (CCC 1272) in baptism that can never be lost. I have no idea where her life will take her, but I do know that she will always be a member of God’s family, a God who loves her fiercely and who is rich in mercy.
Kara and I often pray that our children will always remain in the heart of the Church, but we also have peace knowing that God loves our children more than we do, and as the Hound of Heaven, he will pursue our children at all moments, in any circumstance. Just like Louisa will forever be a Storey, even if she were to abandon her family, so too she will always be a member of the Body of Christ.
During the Easter liturgy, we recall and renew our baptismal promises. In a particular way I’d encourage all parents to reflect on the great joy, and the great responsibility that we bear, as we incorporate our families into the family of God.
By God’s grace, may we be effective witnesses to God’s love, and may God call home any and all of our children who struggle with their baptismal call!