“Go therefore and teach all nations; Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Mt 28, 19)
Holy Baptism is the foundation of all Christian life. Being the first of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, it is the door of life in the Spirit and the door that opens access to the other sacraments.
Through Baptism we are freed from sin and regenerated as Children of God, we become members of Christ, we are incorporated into the Church and made participants in its mission.
What is this sacrament called?
The word Baptism comes from “baptizen” (Greek) and means “to dip” “to immerse”. The person being baptized is immersed in water, symbolizing his burial and, soon after, rebirth to Christ as a new creature. (2 Cor 5,17; Gal 6,15).
Baptism is the most beautiful and magnificent gift from God. We call it gift, grace, anointing, illumination, garment of incorruptibility, bath of regeneration, seal and everything that is most precious.
Sun, because it is conferred on those who bring nothing; grace, because it is given even to the guilty; baptism, for sin is buried in water; anointing, because it is sacred and royal (like those who are anointed); lighting, because it is radiant light; wear, because it covers our shame; bath, because it washes; stamp, because it guards us and is a sign of God’s lordship. (S. Gregory of Nazianzus, apud CIC, 1993, N° 1216)
It is necessary to be reborn from water and the Spirit
Jesus replied to him: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he will not be able to see the Kingdom of God.” Nicodemus asked him: “How can a man be reborn when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb again and be born a second time?”
Jesus replied: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is reborn of water and the Spirit, he will not be able to enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you: You must be born again. The wind blows where it wants; you hear its noise, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it’s going. So it is with him who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3, 3-8)
Baptism is a gift that makes us born into life with God. This birth is an act of God by which eternal life is given to whoever believes (cf. 2Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15; Tt 3:5; 1Pd 1:3; 1Jo 2:29).
Jesus told Nicodemus that one must be born by water and the power of the Holy Spirit. “He who is born of the flesh is flesh, he who is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6). With these words, Jesus wanted to refer to two births: the physical, bodily, carnal, which comes from the help of the parents, and the spiritual, from water and the Spirit.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever is not reborn of water and the Spirit will not be able to enter the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5)
This new birth, which Jesus tells us is baptismal regeneration, which instills sanctifying grace in man, giving him the first justification, that is, it erases in us the original sin, inherited from our first parents, in addition to conferring on us all the supernatural virtues necessary so that, reborn into divine life, he can operate as a new creature.
Through the Holy Spirit, Baptism is a bath that purifies, sanctifies and justifies, thus clothing and grafting the baptized person into the person of Christ, transforming him, in Him and through Him, into an adopted son of God.
The Baptism and Passion of Christ
It was on his Easter that Christ opened the sources of Baptism to all men. In fact, He had already spoken of his passion, which he was going to suffer in Jerusalem, as a “baptism” with which he was to be baptized. The blood and water that flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus are types of Baptism and the Eucharist, sacraments of new life: since then, it is possible to be “born of water and the Spirit” to enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:5 ).
“Notice: Where were you baptized, where did Baptism come from, if not from the cross of Christ, from the death of Christ? Therein lies the whole mystery: He suffered for you. It was in Him that you were redeemed, in He is the one who saved you.” (CIC 1225)
The water
Every sacrament is made up of form and matter, signs perceptible to the human senses. In Baptism, the matter is water, and it cannot be any other liquid, which is the most important symbol.
Since the beginning of the world, water, this humble and admirable creature, has been the source of life and fecundity. Holy Scripture sees it as “incubated” by the Spirit of God:
Right at the beginning of the world, your Spirit hovered over the waters, so that from then on they conceived the power to sanctify.
Water symbolizes life and in it, through baptism, God transmits through Jesus Christ, His own life through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
If spring water symbolizes life, tide water is a symbol of death. That is why it could prefigure the mystery of the cross. And through this symbolism, Baptism means communion with the death of Christ.
Who can be baptized?
Every human being not yet baptized – and only he – is capable of receiving Baptism. (CIC 1246)
Why baptize children?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church answers this question in paragraph 1250
“Born with a fallen human nature stained by original sin, children also need the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and transferred to the domain of freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called. The pure gratuitousness of the grace of salvation is particularly manifest in the Baptism of children. Therefore, the Church and parents would deprive the child of the inestimable grace of becoming a child of God, if they did not grant him Baptism shortly after his birth.
The effects of Baptism
Baptism, necessary for man’s salvation (CIC 1257), is the first Easter we experience. He cleanses the stain of original sin and causes man to resume his friendship with God. Even though Christ has redeemed the sins of humanity, its consequences remain, which is why Baptism becomes so necessary.
Through Baptism, original sin and all personal sins are forgiven, as well as all their penalties (CIC 1263). However, the temporal consequences of sin remain (suffering, illness, death, weaknesses inherent to life, such as weaknesses of character, etc.), as does the propensity to sin itself (CIC 1264).
It is up to men to have courage and willingness to fight them, always counting on the grace of Our Lord, who does not let them fight alone.
An indelible spiritual mark
Once baptized, the person is incorporated into Christ, configured to Him. Baptism marks the Christian with an indelible spiritual seal of belonging to Christ. This mark is not erased by any sin, although sin prevents Baptism from bearing fruits of salvation. Given once and for all, Baptism cannot be repeated.
Incorporated into the Church through Baptism, the faithful received the sacramental character that consecrates them to Christian religious worship. The baptismal seal empowers and commits Christians to serve God through living participation in the Church’s holy liturgy, and to exercise their baptismal priesthood through the testimony of a holy life and effective charity. (CIC 1272 and 1273)
“But one day the goodness of God, our Savior, and his love for men appeared. And, not because of works of righteousness which we had done, but only because of his mercy, he saved us through the baptism of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
(Titus 3, 4-5)
Read more about the Sacraments of the Catholic Church
Is Baptism administered by other Christian churches valid by the Catholic Church?
Sacrament of Confirmation
Sacrament of the Eucharist
Sacrament of Penance
Anointing of the Sick
Sacrament of Order
Sacrament of Marriage
References
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Catechism of the Catholic Church. São Paulo: Loyola, 2000
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New life that is born from life: 2nd training content for parents and godparents / . – São Paulo: Paulus, 2016
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