Often, the parish receives inquiries from grandparents about how they might have their grandchildren baptized. They often make the request themselves because the parents of the children no longer attend church regularly or have no relationship with their own parish church or faith community.

Sadly, and for many reasons, some young families do not have a personal relationship with Christ fostered through the Sacraments of the Church, especially through Sunday Mass, Confession or the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony. 

Understandably, grandparents worry about their children and their grandchildren in these circumstances. It is important to remember that this is often not a reflection of the commitment of grandparents to their own faith in God and in the Sacraments. When their own children become adults and when they also become parents, personal responsibility for nurturing their faith now falls upon them. Grandparents often can only encourage their children, especially when they leave home, to find out where their local Catholic parish church is, attend Sunday Mass there and build up a healthy relationship with one faith community.

However, if a young family does not take the initiative to actively practice their Catholic faith through a commitment to their local church, baptism of their children doesn't make much sense. A church will be understandably reluctant to invite anyone to be baptized without a demonstration that they are already committed to the Sunday Sacraments and supportive of their local parish community. 

So, if you are concerned that your grandchildren are not baptized, your first concern might be that your own son or daughter has not anchored their Christian faith to the stability of a local parish community. Help them and encourage them to do this first, and then, the waters of baptism will naturally flow freely.