Double baptism of Ailbhe Lynda Cahill & Adam John Nevin

 Address given at St Mary's Nenagh on Sunday 13 June 2021

Today is a joyful occasion, a day for celebration, a day of baptism - and a double one too!

For many of us it is a family celebration. Particularly so for Sandra and Ruari, and for Sharon and Robert, as they bring Ailbhe Lynda and Adam John to be christened in the presence of so many relatives and friends, who share their joy in them. Sandra and Sharon are daughters of John and Myrtle Gloster.

For their godparents, it is a day when they promise to encourage them in their life and in their faith. Each pair of parents will stand as godparents for the other pair's child. It is a day to celebrate the start of very special relationships they will have with their godchildren as they grow up.

My daughter, when she was small, didn’t understand what a godmother was. She called her godmother ‘my bed-sitter’, because when she came to stay her godmother would sit on the end of her bed and have long talks with her. My daughter loved those special talks. May you as godparents be equally special ‘bed-sitters’ for Ailbhe and Adam!

It is surely right for families to celebrate as families, because our Lord Jesus Christ himself was reared in a human family, and enjoyed family celebrations -  we remember the wedding in Cana of Galilee.

But today is about much more than just family celebration.

St Matthew’s Gospel tells us how Jesus after his resurrection commissioned the apostles to make disciples of all nations, and to mark it by baptism. They in turn passed on the commission to others, handing on the gift of faith to new generations. And so we, as that part of Christ’s church gathered here today, as Jesus’s disciples, pass on this gift to a new generation, to Ailbhe and to Adam.

We are here to welcome them as new members of Christ’s Church.  Baptism marks the beginning of a journey with God, which will last for the rest of their lives. Whether we are family or not, we celebrate that today. And as we renew our baptismal vows in a few moments, let us reflect on our own journey, and let us be determined to support Ailbhe’s and Adam’s parents and godparents as they guide them on their journeys.

Ailbhe and Adam will be baptised “in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”.

Matthew tells us that Jesus himself used these words, invoking the Holy Trinity, three persons in one God. Those of us who are Anglicans share this baptismal formula with most other Christians, including the Roman Catholic, the Orthodox and most Reformed Churches. It is a symbol of unity within the diversity of our traditions that we all baptise in the same words.

We shouldn’t see the Trinity as a static thing, I think. Rather, God reveals himself in the Trinity as a dynamic cycle of loving relationships. The Father and the Son loving each other; the Son and the Spirit loving each other; and the Spirit and the Father loving each other.

May Ailbhe and Adam grow up to recognise God’s dynamic cycle of love reflected in their own relationships!

In today’s Gospel reading (Mark4:26-34), Jesus likens the kingdom of God to sowing seeds.

Today’s baptisms are like the sowing of two seeds. When we sow seeds in the kingdom of God, we must be patient. We must live in hope and trust in God’s goodness and loving kindness to us all.

We pray that both Ailbhe and Adam, nurtured by the love and examples of their parents and godparents, may grow like mustard seeds in God’s kingdom. May they live in hope, trusting in God’s loving faithfulness, and both yield and receive a great harvest of goodness in the kingdom of God.