Celebrating My Baptism into Christ on Ash Wednesday

by Linda Olsen

Celebrating My Baptism into Christ on Ash Wednesday

A few years ago, a homily by former pastor Fr. Bill Schmidt encouraged us to celebrate our date of Baptism as joyfully as we celebrate our birthday. This past summer I finally outreached to my hometown parish in Ohio and obtained my Baptismal date. I knew it would have occurred soon after my birth because, although it was never an official teaching of the church, many thought “back then” that a child would go to a place called “limbo” if they died without the sacrament.

Sure enough, I was Baptized 9 days after I was born, on February 22^nd; easy enough to remember since it’s famously George Washington’s birthday and the birthday of a childhood friend. I have since gathered the Baptism records for my kids, whose dates are also significant because that’s when they became a daughter and son of God, a member of the Church, and an heir to the Kingdom of Heaven.

In Baptism we receive the same Holy Spirit that God the Father bestowed upon Jesus at His Baptism, and we are thus permanently sealed with the blessing that marks us as belonging to Christ. This spiritual gift allows us to receive the supernatural graces that flow from His love and mercy. Jesus affirmed that Baptism is necessary for salvation: “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit (Jn 3:5). (For exceptional circumstances, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1257-1261.)

Just like our birthday celebrates arrival to our earthly family, the date of our Baptism should be celebrated in thanksgiving to God for welcoming us as His adopted children and as members of His body, the Church. As noted by Pope Francis, “To know the date of our Baptism is to know a blessed day….We are called to live out our Baptism every day as the present reality of our lives.”

As I recorded my baptismal anniversary on the 2023 calendar, I realized that it falls on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. How divinely coincidental is that? While the cross made on our foreheads at Baptism is a sign of our belonging to Christ, the cross of ashes placed on our forehead on Ash Wednesday is an outward sign of our commitment to following Him in our daily lives. The ashes are a public acknowledgment that we are Christians and, although we are sinners, we desire to repent. We mourn the ways we have turned from God and accept that death is the consequence of sin: “For you are dust and to dust you shall return” (Gen 3:19). We embrace the 40 days of Lent with acts of penance, fasting and almsgiving in an effort to walk with Christ during his Passion and death.

I have to admit, I planned to recognize my baptismal anniversary for the first time by including not only prayers of thanksgiving but also a nice celebratory dessert (e.g. chocolate). Now I find it ironic that my baptismal anniversary occurs on a day that requires fasting. God certainly has a sense of humor!

As I embrace my “born into Christ” birthday on Ash Wednesday, I am reminded that I am dust that has been Baptized into the Catholic faith. I am grateful for the sacrifices made by Jesus on the cross at Calvary which allows me to share eternal life with Him. This is certainly something to celebrate, even without the chocolate!

Linda Olsen, Rectory Receptionist