Baptism

Where to start?

Since Baptism is the first of the Sacraments of Initiation, I thought I would start here.

Every time we make the Sign of the Cross we should be mindful of our own Baptism.

What day were you baptized?

Recently, on January 8th, Pope Francis spoke of Baptism. He asked: “Do you know the date of your Baptism?” And I realized I never thought about the date of my Baptism. But we should. It was a most important day of our lives. On that day we became a sister or brother to our Lord Jesus Christ, we became part of the Church, and we received the promise of salvation.

So I had to go searching for my Baptismal Certificate. I was baptized on August 22nd.  So from now on I’m going to celebrate and commemorate my Baptism as a Birthday, or my Names Day.

Pope Francis said: “To know the date of our Baptism is to know a blessed day. The danger of not knowing is that we can lose awareness of what the Lord has done in us, the memory of the gift we have received. Thus, we end up considering it only as an event that took place in the past – and not by our own will but by that of our parents – and that it has no impact on the present. We must reawaken the memory of our Baptism. We are called to live out our Baptism every day as the present reality of our lives. If we manage to follow Jesus and to remain in the Church, despite our limitations and with our weaknesses and our sins, it is precisely in the Sacrament whereby we have become new creatures and have been clothed in Christ. It is by the power of Baptism, in fact, that, freed of original sin, we are inserted into Jesus' relation to God the Father; that we are bearers of a new hope, for Baptism gives us this new hope: the hope of going on the path of salvation our whole life long. And this hope nothing and no one can extinguish, for it is a hope that does not disappoint. Remember, hope in the Lord never disappoints.”

So you might want to consider making the day of your child’s Baptism a day of celebration too.

The Effects of the Sacrament of Baptism:

Baptism has six primary effects, which are all supernatural graces:

The removal of the guilt of both Original Sin (the sin imparted to all mankind by the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden) and personal sin (the sins that we have committed ourselves).

The remission of all punishment that we owe because of sin, both temporal (in this world and in Purgatory) and eternal (the punishment that we would suffer in hell).

The infusion of grace in the form of sanctifying grace (the life of God within us); the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit; and the three theological virtues.

Becoming a part of Christ.

Becoming a part of the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ on earth.

Enabling participation in the sacraments, the priesthood of all believers, and the growth in grace.

Want to know more? The Catechism of the Catholic Church 1213 and following.

You may recall this picture that went viral a few years back of Valentino Mora's Baptism in Cordova, Spain where the photograph picked up the water forming a Rosary.