God is infinitely good. One of the many blessings He grants us is the opportunity to relearn all those little lessons we have a tendency to forget. He never stops loving us and gives us every chance to do better. This summer He gifted me such an opportunity. Some readers may remember my bad day many months ago in A Lesson in Humility. However, I was granted yet another vanity check recently regarding our daughter’s baptism. 

Last year my husband and I had the pleasure and honor of attending our niece’s baptism in Colorado as her godparents. It was a beautiful ceremony hosted at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary which I describe in detail in Baptized on Holy Ground. This was a full baptism mass which was celebrated by a priest who is a long time family friend and the man who ushered my sister and brother-in-law through RCIA. In short, it was an incredibly beautiful and reverent celebration of this brand new baby girl as she entered into a new life in Christ. Even then, before there were any children of our own to speak of, I knew that this was how I wanted to welcome them into the Church. 

One year later, this was the goal as we planned another baptism mass for our own daughter. However, due to a slight mixup, the presiding priest only had faculties to do the baptism and was unable to celebrate a full mass for the occasion. Upon learning this I was crushed. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this condensed ceremony would have the appearance of a drive-by baptism, as if we were just checking a box for our daughter. Receiving any sacrament should be a grand and joyous affair, especially the first, and arguably most significant one. 

My husband and my dad both reminded me it’s the sacrament that ultimately counts. The church, the guests, mass or no mass are all secondary details so long as the sacrament is valid. At the end of the day our baby would be baptized and that’s what matters. Of course, this is all true but did little to comfort me until I spoke with my mom who had originally been similarly disgruntled about the change of plans. “What a beautiful gift it is,” she said, to bring this little girl into the Church through a simple, humble ceremony. We get to remember Christ’s humble beginnings as we welcome this sweet baby. 

It wasn’t quite so grand as I had originally intended but it was no less joyous. Many of our friends and family joined us for the private baptism, including four priests. There was no shortage of love for this baby girl and the gift of baptism was no less profound. As is frequently the case, my mom was right. It was beautiful and this Catholic momma learned a little humility.