Baptism
One baptism
"I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all" (Eph 4:1-6).
There is only one sacrament of Baptism. It consists of some kind of washing with water, from full immersion to something as simple as moistening one's finger and wiping a small part of the recipient's skin; while washing the person, the minister says, "I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 28:29).
The ordinary ministers of baptism are the ordained deacons, priests, and bishops, but, in an emergency, any human being may baptize another, regardless of the minister's age, holiness, religious affiliation, or sex, so long as the person administering Baptism understands in a general way what Baptism is and intends to baptize. In other words, people cannot be baptized by accident; the minister must have a sacramental intention.
Every person who is baptized by being washed with water and by the use of the Trinitarian formula is baptized with one and the same sacrament of Baptism. Liturgically and socially, there may be many differences between a Catholic and a non-Catholic baptism; the ordinary manner of speaking ("I was baptized Catholic" or "I was baptized Anglican") refers only to the church context, not to the effects of the sacrament.
All who are baptized are baptized into (immersed in) Jesus by the work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, so there is no such thing as "Catholic Baptism" or "Methodist Baptism." All of the baptized are members of the one Body of Christ, whether they are Catholic or not. By the grace of baptism, we are all born-again brothers and sisters in the very same household of God. This is the sacramental foundation of Ecumenism.
- Unitatis Redintegratio, § 3
- "All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are members of Christ's body, and have a right to be called Christian, and so are correctly accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church. Moreover, some and even very many of the significant elements and endowments which together go to build up and give life to the Church itself, can exist outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church: the written word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, and visible elements too. All of these, which come from Christ and lead back to Christ, belong by right to the one Church of Christ."
Many effects
The language we use about Baptism is filled with mixed metaphors.
| Image | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Baptism is a bath. | We are cleansed from Original Sin and personal sin. |
| Baptism (immersion) is a death and burial. | We die with Jesus and are buried in Him. "You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him" (cf. Col 2:12). |
| Baptism is a rebirth. | We are born again--we rise to new life in Jesus. |
| Baptism is a transition. | We leave the kingdom of sin ruled by the world, the flesh, and the devil and enter the Kingdom of God. |
| Baptism is spiritual circumcision. | "In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ" (Col. 2:11). |
| Baptism is an adoption. | "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, 'Abba, Father!'" (Rom 8:15). |
| Baptism is a covenant. | We vow ourselves to God and God vows Himself to us. The Trinity comes to dwell within us. We become "holy grails," living chalices filled to overflowing with the love of God. |
| Baptism is a seal. | "But the one who gives us security with you in Christ and who anointed us is God; he has also put his seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment" (2 Cor 1:22). |
| Baptism is a christening. | Just as Jesus was anointed (christened) not with oil but with that which oil symbolized, the Holy Spirit Himself, so we, too, are anointed in our Baptism not with oil but with the power of the Holy Spirit. In a sense, every baptized person is becomes another "christ." |
| Baptism is a naming. | Judaism associated the giving of a name with circumcision (e.g., the naming of John the Baptist, Lk 1:59-60, and the naming of Jesus, [http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/luke/luke2.htm#v21 Lk 2:21. In English, "christening" became a synonym for "naming," as in the case of the christening ceremony for ships: "I christen thee Titanic!" |
| Baptism is a clothing (an investiture). | "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Gal 3:27). |
| Baptism is a Transfiguration. | We are divinized; we begin to participate in the very life of the Holy Trinity. Just as there is a hidden glory in Jesus that is not visible to ordinary sight, so there is a hidden glory within us that will be revealed when we rise from the dead. The Transfiguration is not just a revelation of Jesus' glory as God, the Son, Incarnate, but a revelation of the kind of glory we will share "through Him and with Him and in Him" for all eternity. |
| Baptism is a stream of living water. | When we are placed in the water of Baptism, the Holy Spirit becomes "a spring of water within, welling up for eternal life" (Jn 4:14).
The sanctifying (divinizing) grace given in Baptism is not a thing but a living relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit; the power of Baptism is alive and active in us at all times. The Father, Son, and Spirit dwell within us from the time of our Baptism through all eternity. The love that God lavishes on us in Baptism remains as an inexhaustible wellspring of life and love within us. |
| Baptism is a grafting. | "Some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place" (Rom 11:17). |
| Baptism in an enlightenment. | [http://www.parishofstluke.net/sacraments/baptism/rite/index.htm Gift of the candle to the baptized child. |
The effects of Baptism are permanent because they are eternal. Our relationship to God is changed once for all time. God gives us a new identity. We can never undo what God has done in us. We may sin against God and choose not to be saved, but that sinful choice is the choice of a born-again child of God.
Baptism of the Holy Spirit
The Baptism of Jesus is the model of the sacrament of Baptism.
Just as Jesus was anointed (Greek: christened) with the Holy Spirit in His baptism, so are we. Baptism causes us to be "born [again] of water and Spirit" (Jn 3:5).
The sacrament of Baptism causes us to have new life (zoe; instead of just bios. We become children of God, which means that we have a new Father and a whole new set of family relationships with the Trinity and with each other.
Accepting Baptism
We have to take possession of what we have been given. Protestants rightly talk about accepting Jesus as "our personal Lord and Savior." Although the effects of the sacrament are infallibly guaranteed by God Himself, we need to co-operate with God's mercy, love, and life within us. Grace is not a thing that we can put on a bookshelf or store in an attic or a garage; grace is the action of the Divine Persons in us. Their action within us call us to respond to love with love: "Love is repaid by love alone" (St. John of the Cross).
Reflections
Benedict's message for Lent, 2011. During Lent, we meditate on how we are joined with Jesus in His suffering and death so that we may also be joined with Him in His resurrection.
Baptism is not just something that happened to us a long time ago in a faraway place. We are baptized into (immersed in) Jesus NOW, and through Him, we participate in His life with His Father and His Spirit.
Baptism infuses us with the supernatural virtues of faith, hope, and love.
Our new life in Christ is the foundation of all of the other sacraments. We use the power of Baptism in Confession, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Priesthood, and Anointing of the Sick.