Pope Francis Borrows Idea From Joe Catholic

Pope Gives Homework
I have been sharing with RCIA groups and Joe Catholic for years that we should celebrate our Baptism Days as our Re-Birthdays. Today Pope Francis pretty much said the same thing in his general audience and assigned everyone listening "homework" to go and find out their Baptism dates.

Baptism is a Big Deal
It goes without saying that Baptism is a big deal and it should be treated as such. In the interest of full disclosure, the truth is I got this idea from reading an article a few years ago on Catholic Culture that talked about the practice of celebrating Baptismal days like birthdays because they are our re-birth days. Our family now celebrates the anniversary of our re-birthdays. I recommend you do the same with your family. Treat your family member to their favorite meal, make them a cake and reflect on the readings from that day. You can also use it as an opportunity to review the Church teaching on Baptism. I assure you that doing all of this will enrich your lives. In preparing for a talk I was going to give to RCIA a few years ago, I discovered I was baptized on the traditional Feast of the Epiphany, January 6th. Now this feast day has even more personal meaning to me.

Find the Date
Take some time out in the next few days to discover the dates of your Baptism and those of your family. Mark the date on your calendar and plan on celebrating. If you don't remember the date, I have a few recommendations. First, if you received your marriage certificate from you parish, they would have had to confirm your previous sacraments. Additionally, you can contact the parish or diocese in which you were baptized. I was surprised that my old parish where I was confirmed had my records. This was fortunate since the church I was baptized in no longer exists. Even if that is the case, the diocese will have a record of the Baptism. If you were not Catholic at the time of your Baptism, it may take a little bit more work. Chances are you had to do this as part of the RCIA process. If not, try talking to some of your relatives that may remember. Most churches keep records of Baptisms.