IMPORTANCE OF BAPTISM / CHRISTIAN NAME
- Of all things, the first and closest possession a person can acquire in this life is his/her name.
- A person’s name is not just for a birthday, but for a lifetime.
- Every person will hear his/her name millions of times in a lifetime – at home, in the school, in the workplace, in the community etc.
- The most long-lasting gift parents give to a child is his/her name.
- Every Christian child has a baptism name if the child is baptized in the church. Baptismal name is also known as Christian name.
- The sacrament of baptism admits infants into the Christian faith.
- Christian names are biblical names or names of saints.
- Just like we celebrate our birthday, we should celebrate the feast day of our name saint to have a greater relation with the name saint.
- Naming the child after a saint is a reminder for the child that God is calling him to holiness and to heaven.
- We know from Sacred Scripture how seriously God selected names.
- God changed the names of Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel and Simon to Peter.
- Through angel Gabriel, God instructed Zechariah to name his son John (Lk 1:13), and commanded Joseph to name Mary’s Son, Jesus (Lk 1:31).
- In the Old Testament we see God allowing Adam to name the beasts, the birds, the cattle, then Eve, and then their sons (Gen 2:20).
- In Catholic baptism, a child is named before God thereby the child’s name is linked to God’s name. God calls each one by name.
- Baptismal name accompanies a person throughout his/her life. When a woman gets married, her last name will be changed; but her baptismal name remains forever.
- Parents should teach children the meaning of their Christian names.