At our baptism, we received God’s sanctifying grace, and became members of His holy people, the Church. By the washing away of original and actual sin, we were marked with a permanent seal or character, deputing us for the worship of God, and marking us as chosen for heaven. Yet it is easy to forget how important our baptism is. A good idea is to observe the anniversary of our baptism by saying the Apostles Creed or renewing the act of faith that our parents and godparents made on our behalf.

At the Easter Vigil, we blessed the font which is used throughout the year. Earlier, we had recalled the Exodus, the passage of God’s chosen people through the Red Sea, taking them from slavery to freedom and setting them on their journey to the promised land. This episode is seen by the Fathers of the Church as a symbol of our baptism by which we are freed from sin and set on the path to heaven.

In this life, our most important task is to remain in a state of grace, preserving the divine life that God gave us in baptism and living it to the full by faithful prayer, by keeping the commandments and by loving God and our neighbour.