𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗨𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲: 𝗔 c𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 of t𝗵𝗲 b𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗺of 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗦𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗮 𝗨𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘇𝘂𝗲

By her loving parents, Amaka Udemezue and Sylvester Udemezue

1. On this sacred day, Saturday, 07 June 2025, we stand as grateful witnesses to the infinite mercy of God, presenting our beloved daughter, GoodFaith Ezinna Sophia Udemezue, for the holy Sacrament of Baptism. Born on the eve of Christ’s nativity, 24 December 2024, and now baptized into His Body, the Church, our daughter’s name and story proclaim what words alone cannot express: a testimony of faith, survival, and divine love.
2. She is our seventh and last child, born through Caesarean section, at once a miracle and a mystery. Just two days later, on 26 December 2024, as the world celebrated the season of joy, we entered a valley of shadows. Our tiny daughter was rushed into the Intensive Care Unit of Randle General Hospital, Mother and Child Centre, Gbaja, Surulere, Lagos. Hooked to oxygen and surrounded by machines, she clung to life with a strength only God could give. Her mother, too, was not spared. From 28 December 2024, Amaka lay in the hospital’s emergency ward, battling the complications of childbirth, her strength waning and her faith tested. Yet in that darkness, the light refused to be extinguished. And on 08 January 2025, after nearly two weeks of anguish, light overtook darkness. GoodFaith’s mother rose from her sickbed. Our daughter began to breathe freely. And on 13 January 2025, she was discharged, a victorious sign of God’s healing power.
3. Today, five months later, we return not with sorrow, but with jubilation. We return to God’s altar to give back to Him what He graciously preserved. As Scripture declares: “The promise is for you and your children…” (Acts 2:39). We now claim that promise, as generations before us have done.
4. As Catholics, we baptize her not because she understands, but because God understands. Because, as St. Augustine affirmed, “The custom of Mother Church in baptizing infants must not be disregarded… it is a tradition of the Apostles.” In this sacrament, she receives a gift she could never earn, a gift of pure grace, a new birth in Christ. We recall the words of our Lord Jesus: “Let the little children come to me… for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Luke 18:16). And so, we bring her, not out of superstition, but out of faith. Not because she is perfect, but because God is perfect in mercy. St. Paul, writing to the Colossians, reminded the early Church: “You were circumcised… having been buried with Him in baptism” (Col. 2:11–12). In the old covenant, infants were marked with circumcision. In the new, baptism is that eternal mark of belonging.
5. Origen, an early Church father, wrote: ” Infants are baptized for the remission of sins… the stain of original sin is washed away.” Luther and Calvin, though separated by centuries, both affirmed this act. “It is not the water,” said Luther, “but the Word of God with the water and faith that trusts it.” “Children of believers,” said Calvin, “belong to the Church. They too must be sealed.”
6. Today, we do not merely celebrate a ritual. We celebrate a resurrection. A rebirth. A new name written in heaven. As C.S. Lewis wrote: “The Church claims to give him [the child] what it gives all: the grace of God, by the action of Christ.” And as G.K. Chesterton so memorably said: “The very fact that a baby can be baptized… is the defiance of spiritual snobbery.” In this act, we do not presume to understand all things; we simply trust. We trust that He who formed her in the womb, who sustained her in crisis, who preserved her through affliction, now receives her with joy into the communion of saints.
7. Today, we, Amaka and Sylvester Udemezue, pledge before God, family, and Church that we shall guide her, pray with her, protect her, and raise her in the Catholic faith, so that one day she may joyfully affirm the grace she receives today.
8. Dear daughter, GoodFaith Ezinna Sophia, Your name was not lightly given. You are a testament to the goodness of God. You are a living parable of faith triumphant over fear. You are light that came in darkness, born near Bethlehem’s star, and now marked forever with the seal of the Holy Spirit. May your life be long, holy, and radiant. May your steps be guided by the same grace that sustained your first breath. And may your soul never forget what your body receives today. You are God’s own child. You are baptized. You are beloved. Welcome to the Church, GoodFaith. Welcome to grace. Welcome home.
   Yours truly,
   Amaka Udemezue and Sylvester Udemezue
   08109024556.
   (07 June 2025)