During last Wednesday’s Audience, Pope Francis spoke
about the power of the sacraments, emphasising and explaining certain
points to breathe new life into the prepared text. He said the
sacraments are not rites; they are the strength of Christ. Jesus Christ
is in the sacraments. When we celebrate mass, the living Jesus himself
is there in the Eucharist. He brings us together as a community, to
worship the Father.
Bergoglio then stressed that “every encounter with
Christ which in the sacraments gives us salvation, invites us to 'go'
and communicate to others a salvation that we can see, touch, encounter,
receive, and that is really credible because it is love.”
“In this way,
the sacraments lead us to be missionaries, and apostolic commitment
urges us to bring the Gospel to every sphere of life, even in the most
hostile, is the most authentic fruit of an assiduous sacramental life,
that as is participation in the salvific of God, who wants to gift
salvation to all.”
“And so it is important to take communion,” the
Pope said in an off-the-cuff comment. “It is important that children be
baptized soon , it is important that they are confirmed members . Why,
because this is the presence of Jesus Christ in us, who helps us. It is
important that, when we feel we have sinned, we go to the sacrament of
reconciliation. 'No, Father, I am afraid, because the priest will give
out to me ! .' No, he will not give out to you, the priest. Do you know
who you will meet in the sacrament of reconciliation? Jesus, Jesus
forgives you. Jesus is waiting for you there, and this is a sacrament.
It makes the whole Church.”
Francis therefore insists on the importance of
baptising children early on and of taking communion. Bergoglio
reiterated that the Church must “facilitate” people’s faith rather than
regulate it. Francis has set an example by baptising a number of people
on his pilgrimages and saints’ feast days. He always administers baptism
after brief catecheses.
In the book interview with Francesca Ambrogetti
and Sergio Rubin, the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires said: “Just the
other day I baptised seven children that belonged to the same mother, a
poor widow who works as a housekeeper and had them with two different
men. I met her last year at the Feast of San Cayetano. She said to me:
Father I have committed a deadly sin, I have seven children but have
never baptised any of them. This is because she didn’t have the money to
pay for the godfathers, who lived far way, to come to the baptisms, or
to pay for the celebrations afterwards because she was constantly
working … I suggested meeting up to talk about this. We spoke on the
phone, she came to meet me, she told me she was never able to find all
the godparents and gather them together … In the end, I said to her:
let’s just have two godfathers who represent the others. They all came
here and after a short catechesis I baptised them in the chapel of the
archbishopric. After the ceremony there were some refreshments, some
cokes and some sandwiches. She said to me: father, I can’t believe it,
you make me feel important … to which I answered: madam it’s not me,
it’s Jesus who makes you important.”
“After a short catechesis…”
This brings to mind
the Christian initiation processes in European Churches. Administering
the sacrament to children, is often a perfect opportunity to remind
parents of the Gospel’s message. It is understandable that courses have a
certain duration. While families put baptism off, dioceses are
increasingly putting off communion and confirmation. By doing so they
risk making the sacrament look like the end point, the final objective
of this preparation path. And that it depends on the preparation of the
person receiving the sacrament. Of course preparation is necessary.
But
it is important not to take away the emphasis from the “strength” of the
sacrament, as the Pope put it. The efficiency of the sacrament does not
depend exclusively on the (length) of the candidate’s preparation
period.