Bishop Eric Menees
Dear Friends,
A very blessed Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe to you all!
You may not be aware, but in the nine years following the apparition of Our
Lady to Saint Juan Diego from December 9-12, 1531 9.5 million people in Mexico
came to faith in Jesus Christ. This feast day marks the greatest evangelism
explosion in history. It is appropriate therefore that we continue our
examination of the Service of Baptism from the 2019 Book of Common Prayer.
Last week we looked at the Opening Acclamation. After the
acclamation, the service continues with the reading of scripture and the
sermon. Following the sermon, the candidates and their sponsors are presented.
The role of the sponsor or godparent is vitally important. This person should
be a believer, committed to Christ, and demonstrably living out their faith.
When the candidate is a child or younger person, the parents serve as the
primary sponsors. It is important that the parents live out their faith, as
their Christian witness will form the basis for their child’s faith. In addition,
godparents are chosen to assist the parents in raising the child in the faith.
It is important that the godparents, in addition to demonstrating the faith,
serve as accountability partners to the parents and child. It always breaks my
heart when parents choose a family member or friend out of a perceived social
responsibility as opposed to a demonstrable faith. It also breaks my heart when
in preparing candidates for Confirmation or Marriage the candidates have little
to no relationship with their godparents.
The following instructions and exhortation from the 2019
Book of Common Prayer are clear, direct and grounded in the scriptures.
The liturgy continues
with the appointed Lessons. Following the Sermon, the Candidates with their
Sponsors stand before the Celebrant.
THE EXHORTATION
The Celebrant then
says to the People
Dearly beloved, Scripture teaches that we were all dead in
our sins and trespasses, but by grace we may be saved through faith. Our Savior
Jesus Christ said, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter
the kingdom of God”; and he commissioned the Church to “make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit.” Here we ask our heavenly Father that these Candidates, being
baptized with water, may be filled with the Holy Spirit, born again, and
received into the Church as living members of Christ’s body. Therefore, I urge
you to call upon God the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that of his
abundant mercy he will grant to these Candidates that which by nature they
cannot have.
I pray your worship is blessed on Sunday as you light the
third candle on the Advent wreath representing joy!
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