Coming of Age at an Easter Baptism

My memories of Easter are many and always beautiful, for one it is a long holiday from Good Friday to Easter
Monday, at least where I come from that's the norm. Again, Easter has always been a time of the year which for me is suffused with religious dedication and an annual new beginning, a second chance after the New Year resolutions. I have made new beginnings so many times that I wonder when I will stop, but I know that sainthood is a daily struggle and a daily abandonment to God to be supreme in one's life.Well, this story is situated in the beautiful sunny Caribbean Island of Grenada where I spent the last two years and where I have mostly fond memories. It is thus not strange that I think of my last Easter as truly memorable.

The year was 2010, for the first time I became a Godparent to someone dear and near to me. My relative had come from home to stay with me as was the custom when you have a new baby, she had always been Catholic from my knowledge but she hadn't been received into the church through baptism and hadn't all the other sacraments which at her age she should have had. I thought of how we were going to go through this hurdle as I didn't know much about the Rites of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) even though I had gone through it, becoming catholic at my marriage. There was no harm in asking about it though, and so off I went to ask the very nice Jamaican priest we had. He was very receptive as always and encouraged us to wait as he arranged the catechesis since he had similar requests for the RCIA. Amazingly it was all set in a jiffy and the catechesis began in earnest with three candidates. I asked God to help me be the right Godparent as I had to be the sponsor of my relative. I felt humbled by the task as I knew my shortcomings were many and my examples not always the best, but God chose me for the task and I set to give it my best shot with his help.

While the catechesis was carried out by a very patient and inspiring man, my son also had the joy of starting his First Holy Communion catechesis under the tutelage of this man's wife. This couple was a marvelously true example of a Christian couple and I think we were privileged to have met them. We started our faith journey, I was also learning daily as I had to go over what my protege was being taught with her and I learned anew my faith, every Sunday we were called to affirm what we had accepted to do and she and the others were sent out of the church to learn under the tutelage of their catechist. As I stood weekly at the foot of the pulpit it was also my own conversion journey and I felt humble over and again.

Finally the Easter tridum arrived, we were all excited including my 9 month old daughter she seemed to sense the high expectations in the air. The Holy Thursday celebration was unsettling as the altar was laid bare and the reality of the desolation felt by Christ was felt. The Good Friday celebrations started with a morning sober parade round the two churches that made up the parish and parts of the city that linked them, unfortunately I had to babysit while my would be God Daughter went, she was the official convert. In the evening due to the remembrance of the late Pope John Paul's death we viewed a movie of his life in the Church in Grand Anse area of St. Georges the capital city of Grenada and had a service. The next day was Holy Saturday, as we marched to the burn fire that dark Saturday night the spirit of Easter grew deeper within me and maybe finally I got the message of the season.

At last we marched to the church to the pool of water placed at the entrance of the church in preparation for the ceremony. The three neophytes were baptized by immersion and as they sank in and rose out of the water I also sank and rose with them, such that the resurrection held the meaning I believe it was meant to have. We walked into the beautifully decorated church on that beautiful warm Easter early morning amidst jubilation for Christ, for the converts and for the body triumphant. The rest of the ceremony, the sacrament of confirmation and the Eucharist all had new meaning and I truly came of age as I became a Godparent for the first time and gave my God daughter a new name. In that moment I renamed myself because I rose from death in the resurrection power of Christ to live my life fully as I am and indeed as we all are called to live. Have a very happy Easter!!!