Jesus says: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the world. Matthew 28:19-20

Your son has just been born. You are God’s collaborators in the birth of a new life: a new person in the middle of the world. What will it be? What will you help him to be? In the celebration of Christian marriage, parents, I am going to answer a fundamental question: Are you willing to lovingly welcome the children that you will receive from God and educate them according to the law of Christ and the Gospel? Your answer was affirmative. Now, with the loving welcome that you give to your newborn, you begin with him/her the path of Christian initiation and subsequent growth and maturation in faith. It is in your hands to teach him to pray, to make him know God the Father and Jesus Christ, to make him participate with you in the Christian community and in the sacraments, to teach him to live as a Christian with your example as parents and godparents, adults in the faith. Therefore, from your maturity and being already initiated in the Christian life, you can request that he be baptized in the faith of the Church and become part of the family of the children of God.

Baptism can be received at any age, whether in the catechetical period of children and adolescents or in adulthood. Until adulthood, parents intervene, accompanying the decision of whoever wants to be baptized, and from the age of majority it is the same interested party who makes the request to the Church. Once the request has been accepted by the Bishop and the corresponding authorization has been communicated, entry into the Catechumenate is made and the time of preparation begins, passing through the different stages of Christian Initiation until the moment of the celebration of Baptism, from the beginning of Advent to the Easter Vigil. In the case of adults, with Baptism, they receive the sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist, sacraments of Christian Initiation.

Through baptism we are made children of God and become part of the Church. This well deserves serious and conscious preparation. It is not a bureaucratic procedure, but an action of God that is prepared, celebrated, and lived in the heart of each person and the Christian community. Therefore, with time, it is advisable to introduce yourself to the parish and have a first conversation. At the reception you will be told the steps to take, whether it is a baptism of children or a baptism of adults. You will be accompanied and helped at all times. Think that it is about discovering, celebrating and living BEING CHRISTIAN.

The Sacraments are actions of Christ that “signify” (perform) the actualization of salvation, and they are actions of the Church because they are celebrated in her and through her mediation. Hence the Sacraments imply faith in Christ and acceptance of the Church, as the visible Body of Christ, the first fruit of a new humanity. Sacramental directory Menorca, 2004