Pope Francis' General Audience: English Summary

Dear brothers and sisters: In the joy of this Easter season, we now begin a new cycle of catecheses on the sacrament of Baptism, by which we receive the forgiveness of sin and are reborn to new and eternal life in Christ. Through the waters of Baptism, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we are immersed in the saving mystery of the Lord’s death and resurrection, and become, in Christ, adoptive sons and daughters of God our Father. Renewed in the image of Christ, the new Adam, we are called to acknowledge his Lordship in our lives and to share in the mission of the Church, his Body, for the transformation of our world. Baptism is the door to the other sacraments, whereby we grow in the life of grace until we come at last to our true homeland in heaven. Our Christian life, as a journey of faith and union with the Lord, is sustained by prayer and by our daily efforts to grow in the imitation of Christ. During this Easter season, may we come to appreciate ever more fully the unmerited gift we received on the day of our Baptism, and resolve to live faithfully the new life we have received in Christ.