In a recent class we were asked if we celebrated the anniversaries of the sacraments of our lives. This was quickly followed by second question: Do you even know the dates? Birth dates and marriage dates are well known and celebrated but the others? Specifically, what about baptism?

George Weigel, biographer, tells that when Pope John Paul II was asked about the most important day of his life, he said it was the day of his baptism -- the source from which everything else in his life flowed.

I was thinking about this on my way to Morning Prayer. As often happens when we pray, some words leapt off the page:

From the Canticle of Isaiah,

You have given me health and life

Parents declare to their children your faithfulness, O God

and then from the Benedictus Antiphon,

God’s grace in me has not been without fruit, it is always at work in me

The photograph above was taken the day of my baptism. My grandmother is holding me. Today I am filled with gratitude for the declaration my parents made to me of God’s faithfulness. Indeed I was given health and life and grace for a lifetime.