Mr. Thomas Gets His Baptize On

To Thomas on the Occasion of his Baptism, January 4^th, 2012

More than eight years ago, we wrote the first letter of this kind to your brother Seamus. And so we are here today with thoughtful consideration and a bit more experience.

When we sat down to write to you we said “When we think about faith, we think about being tested - we think about faith as an action now more than we used to.”  And so someday when you are old enough to read and to wonder, we hope that in these words you’ll see why we stood here today inviting you to share in this journey of faith.

We believe that all things come from God. When the doctor first rested you on my chest and we heard your happy crying. It was miraculous. In those precious first moments, we felt a divine blessing. Labor is hard work, but it is a good metaphor for the faith journey.  We were excited and scared, eager and impatient. Mom felt pain and elation, doubt and joy.

In life you will encounter miracles and you will face tragedy. Your very existence is a miracle to us and you are named for the two men whom we so loved but are now gone from our sight. Our grief is still fresh and new sometimes, but we embrace the best of our memories and rely on our faith to remember that at the end we will all be together.

We believe that in life, we are faced with two options: Believe or don't believe. We've chosen to see God not only in our greatest joy but also even in our profoundest sadness. Armed with faith, we know that there is no limit to love or to life.

When we wrote this letter to Seamus, we said that faith is the most important gift you can be given. But now we’d like to refine this idea – it is also an action, an effort, a choice that you will need to embrace every day of your life. Faith does not come in a box with a ribbon. It is something you must redefine, reapply, and recommit to continually. You "choose" your religion, your faith everyday. Today is just the first step.   We cannot tell you why bad things happen but we believe that no sense can be made or comfort can be found if we face life without faith.

We believe there is light in the darkness - and our calling is to find...to see...to be the light. Once you discover the light in your soul you will have the chance to be a beacon to your family, in your community and through the world. Trust in yourself and you will radiate light. Tiny as you are, you already do. 

To help you with your journey we have chosen your cousin Patrick to be your Godfather. He is a model of compassion and kindness, a man who has become a dear friend to both your dad and I.  In the last year we’ve become especially close and there are few people we admire more.  He will be someone that you have fun with, listen to music with (lots of music), someone that you will be able to talk with and most importantly someone who will unconditionally love you.

We have also chosen your cousin Danielle to be your Godmother.  She is woman full of energy, enthusiasm, beauty, depth and determination. She has been a critical part of our lives – offering support both practical and emotional. We are grateful for her friendship and indebted to her kindnesses.   She’ll be a person that you can trust, a person who will always listen and challenge you; she’ll be someone who will help you find your way.   And she will always be someone that makes you smile.

We picked Pat and Dee for you because they are also a good example of how beautiful marriage can be. They support each other, challenge each other and, as Grandma MJ would say, they love to have fun. They are special examples of  “being the light” in our lives. We believe that faith is a dialog and there are no two better people who communicate that than Pat and Dee.  We hope this is the beginning of a lifetime of conversation about faith and family for you all.

We believe in the unconditional quality of God's love. God loves us with all our failings, in spite of all our flaws, and that complete and unrelenting love is the model for our relationships. Our goal is to live a gentle, patient, loving life filled with gratitude and spirituality. We are not always successful but we learn a little more every year, we love a little deeper and we strive to live up to the examples given to us.

We believe in family. Be grateful for everything you are given, but most importantly, be grateful that you will learn love, by seeing it, feeling it, and living it with your family.  Your siblings already know that you are a precious blessing - soon you will see what a precious blessing they are to you.  Treasure them. As our parents believed in us, we also believe in you, in your inherent goodness. We promise to support you, guide you and love you unconditionally as you discover God in your life.  We will ask for Pat and Dee’s help (and we know we’ll have it).

May God Bless you Mr. Thomas, as he has blessed us with you.