November 4, 2011

• The Sacrament of Baptism, Part I: Getting Our Feet Wet

  

  I was born on September 29th, 1983 and one month and one day later I received the greatest gift I would ever receive, the gift from which every joy and blessing from that day forward would ultimately come.

  At the tender age of one month and one day I was received into the Body of Christ by the Sacrament of Baptism. Really, then, I was truly born on that day and for the past few years I’ve even treated October 30th as a sort of “second birthday.”

  Much to my great dismay, however, there are so many of my Christian brothers and sisters who do not see the baptism of an infant as a valid baptism; in other words they believe that over one billion Christians in the world including myself, the vice-president of the United States, Lady Gaga, the Pope, Jim Caviezel, Melinda Gates, Liam Neeson, Stephen Colbert, Regis Philbin, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Kobe Bryant, and so many others both known and unknown (regardless of whether they are good Christians or not…). And that is just the living; they would also dispute the baptism of Mother Theresa, Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Alfred Hitchcock, Babe Ruth, Frank Sinatra, Martin Luther (yep!), Gregory Peck, Graham Greene, Caravaggio, Michaelangelo and my goodness the list goes on… Granted, their belief against the baptizing of infants likely doesn’t intend to dispute the baptism of so many but when you dispute the legitimacy of infant baptism, that is the logical result. 

  But the baptism of infants has been going on since the very beginning, perhaps even the same day when Jesus gave that great commission to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19)! From the very first sending, from His first command to all His followers after He had risen from the dead, we see that baptism is something very important. We hear the word “baptism” and we think of water, and some of us think of babies, little white garments, candles and in some places sea shells (sometimes used to pour water over an infant’s head) but so often we stop there, never really wondering, “What is baptism?” 

  A Baptism by Any Other Name is Just as Wet

  From the Catechism: 

  “This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out: to baptize (Greek baptizein) means to “plunge” or “immerse”; the “plunge” into the water symbolizes the catechumen’s burial into Christ’s death, from which he rises up by resurrection with him, as “a new creature.” (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; Cf. Romans 6:34; Colossians 2:12)

  St. Gregory of Nazianzus has a much more elaborate way of describing what Christians call the sacrament:

  “Baptism is God’s most beautiful and magnificent gift. …We call it gift, grace, anointing, enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal, and most precious gift. It is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own; grace since it is given even to the guilty; Baptism because sin is buried in the water; anointing for it is priestly and royal as are those who are anointed; enlightenment because it radiates light; clothing since it veils our shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God’s Lordship.”

  Given baptism’s intimate connection with water, as we all recall from reading about Christ’s own baptism in the Jordan for example, I likely don’t need to go into explaining that. But what I may need to attempt to clarify a bit is why the Catholic Church recognizes Baptism as a Sacrament in the first place since, sadly, many denominations teach otherwise.

  In paragraph 774 of the Catechism the Church talks about “sacrament” as it relates to the Church itself, saying:

  “The Greek word mysterion was translated into Latin by two terms: mysterium and sacramentum. In later usage the term sacramentum emphasizes the visible sign of the hidden reality of salvation which was indicated by the term mysterium. In this sense, Christ himself is the mystery of salvation: “For there is no other mystery of God, except Christ.” (St. Augustine) The saving work of his holy and sanctifying humanity is the sacrament of salvation, which is revealed and active in the Church’s sacraments (which the Eastern Churches also call “the holy mysteries”). The seven sacraments are the signs and instruments by which the Holy Spirit spreads the grace of Christ the head throughout the Church which is his Body. The Church, then, both contains and communicates the invisible grace she signifies. It is in this analogical sense, that the Church is called a “sacrament.”"

  The Latin word sacramentum, from which we get the word “sacrament,” means “oath” or “promise.” In each sacrament we have a visible, tangible, and otherwise sensibly perceptible signs that help us to know not only by faith but with our whole person. The Sacraments, like Christ, were never meant to be invisible things that you just have to believe in but Christ instituted all seven in such a way that He connected them with material things, with rituals, with certain prayers and actions, just as the Son of God took on the flesh-and-blood of humanity so that we would know that He was present with us. Yes, there is a dimension of faith involved with Sacraments, just as with the Incarnate Word; after all, not everyone who met Him believed Him to be who He or anyone else claimed! We see the same with the Sacraments; not every Christian (or Catholic, for that matter) believes that the waters of Baptism do anything, that the “bread” and “wine” of the Eucharist are anything other than what they appear to be, that a newly married couple are joined as one until death parts them, that Confirmation does anything whatsoever, etc. Yet by the gift of faith we can believe Christ’s promise that the bread and wine are His Body and Blood, that the waters of Baptism do indeed cleanse us of our sin and prepare us for life as a member of Christ’s Body or, as the Catechism articulates it, “by the action of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit [the sacraments] make present efficaciously the grace that they signify” (1084). In other words, by Christ’s action and the Spirit’s power the sacraments truly make present the grace they symbolize. Baptism seems to symbolize a cleansing and a washing and it actually does cleanse and wash in a way far beyond what mere water does; Eucharist seems to symbolize food and drink and actually is, granting not merely the prolongation of our earthly life but strengthening us for ETERNAL life (John 6:54), and so on with all seven. Christ has promised; the Holy Spirit delivers.

  Why is Baptism considered a Sacrament, then, and not merely a symbolic ritual or a public action testifying to a person’s death to the world and rising in Christ? Christ Himself tells Nicodemus that “…I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (John 3:5) and after His rising He teaches His Apostles that, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Baptism was meant to be a means of salvation; to receive baptism was absolutely crucial. In several places both Jesus and John the Baptist talk about the differences between the baptisms they offer; John’s baptism was one of water and personal repentance; Christ’s was one of Spirit and fire and the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:16, Acts 2:38). Yet even Jesus baptized people with water (John 3:22) and taught His followers to do likewise (Acts 8:36-39); He has taken this ritual bath of the Law and fulfilled it, sending the Holy Spirit like a burning flame to truly purify the inside of the person as the water purifies the outside. Jesus commands His Church to go and baptize; He baptized, His followers baptized, and even He Himself humbly accepted baptism. He entrusts this ministry of baptism, this promise of His saving grace, to the Church, to each of His followers, for the salvation of all mankind; baptism is intended to be like a Flood that destroys the old humanity and leaves the new humanity in its wake, or the Red Sea through which we pass to escape death, or the Jordan through which we cross into the Promised Land. If it were merely symbolic, why would He Himself teach that it is so crucial for salvation? 

  Tying this back to the aforementioned issue of infant baptism, the sacrament is not a matter of being able to understand it or for the person to even ask for it; it is a grace, and an extravagant one at that! It’s purpose, really (as will hopefully be discussed in a future post), is to undo the effects of the Fall so that, by one’s life in the Church, one can enter anew into relationship with God as we were always meant to be. If it is offered to undo the curse, death and disobedience previously chosen by our first parents (Adam and Eve) for which we yet suffer, could not our current parents choose rather blessing, life and obedience for their child? Baptism is re-birth, and just like birth it is a free grace; if you are human and have not been baptized before, you may receive this Sacrament and enter into the life God intended for all of us, all along.

   

  This post in particular was only meant to lay some basic groundwork and to “stir the pot” for the next posts on Baptism. While my last post about Seven Things You Didn’t Know About Me was enjoyable and popular, I think it distracted a little from the question at the end of my post on the Trinity, which simply asked:

   

  “What are your questions/thoughts regarding baptism?”

   

  There is so much that can be posted about the Sacrament, so I think it would be best to try and limit future posting to what primarily interests/concerns you. Question away!

  • 3:32 pm
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