By Father Jacob Dankasa
Special to The Texas Catholic
Last year around this time, I wrote and reflected on “Remembering and Living Our Baptismal Promises,” focusing on how we live those promises in our daily Christian lives, especially our call to reject Satan and all his empty promises. In this article, I would like us to reflect more intentionally on how our baptismal promises are meant to be lived in a very practical way within the parish community.
Each year in January, the Church celebrates the Baptism of the Lord. This feast is more than the remembrance of an event in Jesus’ life; it is a profound revelation of identity and mission. At the Jordan River, Jesus steps into the waters not because he needs repentance, but to reveal who he is and what he has come to do. As he rises from the water, the heavens open and the voice of the Father proclaims, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” From that moment on, Jesus’ public ministry begins in earnest, and it does not stop until his death on the cross.
At the baptism of Jesus, God the Father publicly claims his Son. This divine announcement confirms Jesus’ identity and authorizes his mission. Our own baptism carries a similar meaning. Through baptism, God publicly claims us as his sons and daughters and confirms us for mission. We are not baptized into a private faith or passive belonging. We are baptized into a living, active Church and entrusted with a share in Christ’s mission.
At baptism, God gives us three extraordinary gifts: First, he grants us rebirth. Our original sin is forgiven, and we are made new creatures in Christ. We are born again, not by our own effort, but by God’s grace. Second, God initiates us into the Christian community. Baptism inserts us into the Body of Christ, the Church. Faith is never meant to be lived in isolation; it is always communal. Third, God empowers us. He fills us with his divine life and strength so that we may live as his witnesses in the world. These are God’s gifts to us; but baptism also involves a response on our part.
When we were baptized, or when these promises were made on our behalf, we promised to reject Satan, to renounce sin, and to profess our faith in God and in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. These promises are not symbolic words spoken once and forgotten. They demand active and ongoing commitment. Baptism calls us to participation, not passivity.
One of the most practical and visible ways we live out our baptismal promises is through active participation in the life of our parish. Every Catholic belongs to a parish. It is within this local Church that our faith becomes concrete and visible. To integrate into parish life is not optional; it is an essential expression of our baptismal identity.
Our baptism empowers us to be committed to the mission of the Church. That commitment takes shape when we become active members of our parish community, integrate into its life, participate in its mission, and support its activities. This includes joining ministries, volunteering our time and talents, and contributing our financial resources for the sustenance and growth of the parish. These are not merely organizational needs; they are spiritual responsibilities rooted in baptism.
No one should be passive in the life of his or her parish church. A passive parishioner risks living baptism as a memory rather than a mission. The parish is not a service station we visit occasionally; it is a family to which we belong and a mission in which we share.
God has already done his part. He has renewed us, initiated us into his Church, and empowered us with his grace. Our gift back to God is commitment — commitment to his work, his people, and his mission. When we integrate fully into the life of our parishes, we live our baptism in the most practical and faithful way possible.
Like Jesus after his baptism, may we never stop working for the Kingdom of God.
Father Jacob Dankasa is the pastor of Holy Family of Nazareth Catholic Church.
Cutline for featured image: Pope Leo XIV baptizes one of 20 children in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican Jan. 11, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. (SIMONE RISOLUTI/OSV News)
