Family, Live and Transmit the Faith!

After praying the Angelus yesterday afternoon, the Holy Father address families, keeping in mind that "the theme of the forthcoming meeting in Valencia is the transmission of the faith in the family. The theme of the apostolic visit to that city is inspired in this commitment: 'Family, Live and Transmit the Faith!'"

Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that "the family is a living organism, where a mutual exchange of gifts takes place. What is important," he insisted, "is that the word of God, which keeps the flame of faith alive, never be lacking."

Reflecting upon the Rite of Baptism, His Holiness noted,

With a particularly significant gesture, during the rite of baptism, the godfather or godmother lights a candle from the great paschal candle, a symbol of the risen Christ and the celebrant says: "To you, parents and godparents, is entrusted the task of guarding this light so that this child, illuminated by Christ, may always live as a child of the light."

If this gesture, in which the whole meaning of the transmission of the faith in the family lies, is to be authentic, it must be preceded and accompanied by the parents' commitment to further their own knowledge of the faith, rekindling the flame with prayer and the assiduous practice of the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist.

It should be noted that, in the English translation of the Rite of Baptism, there is, regretfully, no mention of the parents and godparents "guarding" the light of Christ.