ROME – Pope Leo XIV Sunday resumed the tradition of baptizing infants in the Sistine Chapel on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, telling parents the gift of faith gives life its meaning.

Reflecting on Jesus’s incarnation, the pope said that in choosing to enter history, “he encounters the lives of each of us with an open and humble heart.”

“He seeks our gaze with his own, full of love, and dialogues with us, revealing the Word of salvation,” Leo said, saying Jesus in becoming man “brings a surprising possibility to all, ushering in a new era, unexpected even by the prophets.”

Jesus, he said, is “a light in the darkness” and chooses to reveal himself in the least expected place.

“He is the Saint among sinners, who desires to dwell among us without keeping his distance, but rather, fully embracing all that is human,” the pontiff said.

Recalling Jesus’s own baptism, the pope said Jesus came and asked for it from John the Baptist for the sake of “righteousness.”

Leo said this righteousness is not that of the world, but of God, “which in the baptism of Jesus brings about our justification: in his infinite mercy, the Father makes us righteous through his Christ, the one savior.”

Jesus, through his baptism in the Jordan “makes this gesture a new sign of death and resurrection, of forgiveness and communion,” he said, saying this is what the sacrament of baptism is all about, and it is the gift Jesus wants to give the infants who received it.

“Because God loves them, they become Christians, our brothers and sisters,” he said, saying that through baptism, “they are transformed into new creatures. Just as they received life from you, their parents, so now they receive the meaning to live it: faith.”

Pope Leo spoke during a Jan. 11 Mass in the Sistine Chapel, where he baptized 20 children of Vatican employees on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which marks the official end of the Christmas liturgical season.

In his homily, reflecting on the value of faith, Leo said that when something is essential, it is given automatically to one’s loved ones, using food and clothing as an example.

“If food and clothing are necessary for life,” he said, “faith is more than necessary, because with God life finds salvation.” Leo told parents that God’s love for their children is manifested through them, specifically their desire that their children receive faith.

He told parents that one day they would depend on their children, and prayed that baptism, “which unites us in the one family of the Church, sanctify all you families at all times, giving strength and constancy to the affection that unites you.”

“I hope you continue this joyfully throughout the year just begun and throughout your lives, certain that the Lord will always accompany your steps,” he said.

After Mass Pope Leo recited the Angelus address from his widow inside the Apostolic Palace, saying Jesus’s baptism is a reminder that God is not distant and unconcerned with humanity or their troubles and expectations.

“Instead, he comes among us with the wisdom of his Word made flesh, drawing us into a wondrous plan of love for all humanity,” he said, saying Jesus “comes to serve rather than dominate, to save rather than condemn.”

“He takes upon himself what is ours, including our sin, and gives us what is his: the grace of new and eternal life,” he said.

Pope Leo closed his Angelus address voicing hope that Christians would celebrate the feast of Jesus’s baptism by remembering their own, and “committing ourselves to bear witness to it with joy and authenticity.”

“In moments of darkness, Baptism is light; in life’s conflicts, it is reconciliation; at the hour of death, it is the gateway to heaven,” he said.

Leo also voiced concern for renewed violence in the Middle East, specifically mentioning fresh violence in Syria and Iran, where unprecedented protests have been unfolding nationwide since December, with around 190 people having been killed.

He also pled for peace in Ukraine and prayed for people suffering in the wake of Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, which have left many without light or heat in frigid winter temperatures.

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