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BAPTISM
NATURE AND EFFECTS
Baptism is the sacrament that
purifies us from original sin
and all other sins if any. By
baptism Jesus transforms our
souls. He gives us
supernatural life by infusing
into us God’s sanctifying
grace. He sows the seeds of
the divine virtues of faith,
hope and love.
Baptism is a rebirth “Unless a
man is born through water and
the spirit he cannot enter the
kingdom of God” (Jn. 3, 5). At
Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan
the heaven was opened and a
voice was heard to say:
“Behold my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased” (Mt. 3,
17). A similar filiation takes
place in our own baptism too.
We are born again spiritually
through baptism and become the
adopted children of God
through Christ in the Holy
Spirit. This spiritual rebirth
occurs only if and when we
strip off our old sinful self
and put on the new man in
Christ (Eph. 4, 22-24; Gal. 2,
20; Rom 6, 6-1 1). Only then
will Jesus restore to us the
image of God which had been
defiled by sin.
Further, St. Paul shows that
Baptism involves a deep,
personal sharing in the
paschal mystery of the
passion, death and
resurrection of Jesus. In
other words, we have to be
baptized with Jesus’ own
baptism (Lk. 12, 50). Through
his paschal baptism Jesus, the
head of the human race, passed
from the domain of sin and
death to the everlasting life
and glory of his Father. Thus
he delivered all mankind from
spiritual bondage and
reestablished a covenant of
love between God and man. With
Jesus we too must die to sin
so that we may rise with him
to eternal life.
NECESSITY OF BAPTISM
Baptism is the first and the
most necessary sacrament
because it draws the recipient
into a fellowship with Christ
and the Church which is the
only way to salvation, and
makes him capable of receiving
validly the other sacraments.
Baptism is a necessary
condition to attain salvation.
Christ has taught this truth
unequivocally on several
occasions (Jn. 3, 5; Mk. 16,
17; Mt. 28, 19).
Salvation is to be found only
in Christ, in union with him,
for He alone is the Way, the
Truth and the Life leading
mankind to the Father (Jn. 14,
6; Acts 4, 12).
Union with Christ, then
necessarily implies union with
his Church as well. Hence the
relevance of the age-old
teaching of the Church, viz,
extra ecclesia nulla salus:
there is no salvation outside
the Church. The term Church in
this context means the
communion of the baptized in
Christ. The Second Vatican
Council reiterates and
confirms this teaching in the
Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church (L. G. art. nos.
14-15).
If baptism is necessary for
salvation, does it mean that
all those who are not baptised
are not saved? Not necessarily
(L. G. art 16). Nor does
baptism automatically
guarantee salvation to anyone
(L.G . art. 14 towards the
end).
In this connection it might be
useful to take note of what
are known as baptism of desire
and baptism of blood. Some of
the effects of baptism, in
particular, union with our
Lord and the Church, may be
produced by baptism of desire
and baptism of blood, even
though these are not
sacraments proper.
BAPTISM OF DESIRE
Baptism of desire consists in
the desire to do God’s will,
Suppose a catechumen is
mortally Wounded and is dying.
He loves God with all his
heart; he is truly sorry for
all the sins he committed in
his life; and he longs for
baptism. Because he loves God
above all else, God accepts
his desires and unites his
soul with himself.
God does the same when a pagan
is moved with the desire, not
so much to be baptised, for he
has never heard of baptism, as
to do whatever the Supreme
Being wills and to be saved by
Him. Baptism of desire is
certainly received by those
who
implicitly or explicitly
desire baptism but for some
reason are unable to receive
it sacramentally.
BAPTISM OF BLOOD
Baptism of blood consists in
the grace that enables one to
give oneself entirely to God
in martyrdom. The Holy
Innocents (Mt. 2,16-18)
received such a baptism, as
did the early catechumens who
were martyred for Christ.
ADMINISTRATION OF BAPTISM
The ordinary minister of the
sacrament of Baptism is an
ordained priest or a deacon.
But in an emergency anyone can
baptize. In order to
administer baptism validly
(1). The minister must do it
in the name of the Church;
(2)- He must himself pour the
water over the head of the
person to be baptized saying
“(Name), I baptize you in the
name of
the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit.”
Since baptism leaves an
indelible character on the
soul, it can be received
validly only once. If there is
doubt about the validity of a
previous baptism, a person can
be baptized again
conditionally.
SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE
The meaning of baptism is
reflected in the symbolism of
the sacramental rite. Water
washing over us speaks of the
redeeming power of Christ’s
suffering, death and
resurrection. It washes away
the inheritance of sin,
delivering us from the domain
of darkness and death into the
kingdom of light and life. By
baptism we are indeed immersed
into the death of Christ. In
the words of St. Paul we are
baptized into Christ’s death,
so as to rise with him in his
glorious resurrection. The
baptismal rites of the early
Church is particularly
significant. The catechumen
was immersed in the baptismal
waters from where became up as
a new-born Christian. St.Pau1
explains the symbolism of this
rite as follows: Just as
Christ was laid in the tomb so
the Christian is buried in the
baptismal waters as if in a
tomb. Then like Christ he
comes out of the ‘tomb’ and
lives a new life of grace with
Him. The anointing with holy
oil signifies that we are
consecrated and set apart to
become the living temples of
the Holy Trinity (I Cor. 3,
16-17). The white garment is a
symbol of purification of the
baptized and the lighted
candle symbolizes their
mission to make the light of
Christ within them shine out
in the world around them.
In this connection it is good
to recall another aspect of
baptism which is perhaps the
one most familiar to us all.
In baptism we take a Christian
name-the name of one of the
saintly heroes among Christ’s
followers. Taking such names
is again one more reminder
that we are gathered into the
communion of saints and that
we are called upon to mould
our own lives after the great
models of Christian living set
before us in and through our
namesakes.
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