Baptism

Welcome to the Baptism page at Sacred Heart Catholic Church!

We are so excited that you have taken this step to baptize your child into God’s family. Please find all of the information on how baptism works in the Catholic Church at our parish specifically on this webpage.

“By Baptism we become members of the Church, the Body of Christ.”

The origin and foundation of Christian Baptism is Jesus.  Before starting his public ministry, Jesus submitted himself to the baptism given by John the Baptist.  The waters did not purify him; he cleansed the waters.  . . .  Jesus did not need to be baptized because he was totally faithful to the will of his Father and free from sin.  However, he wanted to show his solidarity with human beings in order to reconcile them to the Father. By commanding his disciples to baptize all nations, he established the means by which people would die to sin – Original and actual – and begin to live a new life with God.

In Baptism, the Holy Spirit moves us to answer Christ’s call to holiness. In Baptism, we are asked to walk by the light of Christ and to trust in his wisdom. We are invited to submit our hearts to Christ with ever deeper love.” –USCCB

I’ve decided to baptize my child….what does that mean?

Learning about baptism and what it means to be baptized into God’s family is a ministry that the Church traditionally directs to adults. This means that when you come to baptize your child, you will learn what that baptism means, as the parent of the child. If you have an older child whom you intend to baptize, the baptism preparation will be given directly to them.

The Catholic Church calls infant baptism the baptism of any child under age 7. If you desire to baptize a child age 7 or over please enroll them in the RCIA adapted for children, information about which can be foundhere.

“Catechesis for Baptism is directed primarily to adults: that is, catechumens including children who have reached the age of reason-as well as the parents and godparents of infants who are to be baptized. All those preparing for Baptism, including parents and godparents who are preparing for the Baptism of an infant or child, need the prayerful support and apostolic witness of the people of the local community of faith – the parish. This preparation is an especially important opportunity for the Church to encourage the parents and godparents of infants to reexamine the meaning of the Christian message in their own lives.” (National Directory for Catechesis)

What do I do next?

Parents and Godparents are required to attend the preparation classes. Preparation takes place in three classes which occur the three first Tuesdays of the month. The first Tuesday of the month, aka the first class, is an Orientation for the parents and registration for Baptism. (Godparents are not required to attend the first Tuesday). The following two Tuesdays after that are the preparation classes. We strongly suggest you attend these sessions early in your pregnancy to avoid any disappointment in choosing a Baptism date.

If you wish to baptize your child, you must first attend a baptism registration session. In order to attend this you must first call the Parish Office to register for this session. You will be given a date, time and location of when this session is available for you to come. Our English Baptism Registrations are every other month, our Spanish are every month.

At the registration session, you will be given the guidelines for baptizing your child and any questions you have will be answered. Please bring a copy of the child’s birth certificate and the child’s godparents Sacrament of Matrimony information from the Catholic Church they were married in, if a couple. If an individual a copy of the most recent certificate of all sacraments. Godparents must be at least 18 years of age.