Question
We wanted to have our family have a "private baptism" on a Tuesday afternoon when my family is free for our little nephew's baptism. Our pastor said that Sunday is the normal day for baptism and during Mass. What does the church say?
--Privy in Pilson
Answer
In the Rite of Baptism for Children, paragraph 9 in the introduction, it states that Sunday is the normative day for baptism, for Sunday is "the day we commemorate the Lord's resurrection." Since children and adults are baptized into the death and resurrection of the Lord, the church has held Sunday as sacred. The "paschal character of baptism" is further recognized on these days. Baptisms are usually celebrated even during Mass "so that the entire community may be present and the necessary relationship between baptism and eucharist may be clearly seen."