TOS041: The Sacraments – Baptism – Truth of the Spirit (podcast) | Listen Notes
Patti Brunner brings you Baptism, the final sacrament of the Catholic series: The Eucharist and Other Sacraments. Baptism brings life, eternity with God, and the grace to fulfill his plan to rescue those affected by choices made. Redemption allows the indwelling of God within the heart of man in relationship not just as Creator and created. The water—symbol of life, of cleansing, of power, of grace is the sign of this sacrament.
This episode keys in on the transformation and adoptive sonship. When man receives the grace of salvation time stands still and eternity enters the soul. Through Baptism the life that was meant to be is thus entered and the life to be lived in abundance is begun.
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Like my children my grandchildren and some of my grandparents and great-grandparents, I was baptized as a baby. My son-in law went to RCIA for about a year when he was baptized at age 45.
My dad was baptized when he was 33 years old. He died 3 days later.
Whether you receive baptism as a baby, as a convert or on your deathbed, it is the SAME Baptism in Christ Jesus!
Welcome to Truth of the Spirit. I’m your host, Patti Brunner. You are listening to “Baptism”, the final sacrament of our series “The Eucharist and Other Sacraments”.
Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission.[CCC 1213]
[1214 ] 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.”6
My pastor, Msgr. David LeSieur, climbs into our parish’s large baptismal font at the Easter Vigil to baptize adults. He says the slight struggle of the catechumen of being immersed in the water, which he does three times, shows the struggle between death and life.
We can learn in the Catechism of the Catholic Church #1215 that “This sacrament is also called “the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one “can enter the kingdom of God.”7 We are born again of water and Spirit.
When man receives the grace of salvation time stands still and eternity enters the soul. The life that was meant to be is thus entered and the life to be lived in abundance is begun. Baptism thus brings life, eternity with God, and the grace to fulfill his plan.
I want to share with you today some of the wonderful benefits of Baptism. It is like the Lord set a delicious banquet for His Children. Through Baptism we become priest, prophet and king. Let’s talk about what benefits these mean for you. ‘The Lord your God has set into motion a plan of salvation to rescue those affected by choices made.
The first benefit is purification from sins. 1263 “All sins forgiven; Original Sin inherited from Adam & Eve and personal sin as well as all punishment for sin.” 1264 “Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent” 1263“In those who have been reborn nothing remains that would impede their entry into the Kingdom of God, neither Adam’s sin, nor personal sin, nor the consequences of sin, the gravest of which is separation from God.”
Baptism gives us a new birth in the Holy Spirit; through this we become an adopted child of God and a partaker in the divine nature. We have full benefits as adopted children and thus co-heirs with Christ.
We become a temple of the Holy Spirit, a living tabernacle, where God dwells. Another benefit of Baptism is that we become a member of the Body of Christ. And we become a member of one another which is known as the Church.
When we are baptized we become a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation: God’s own people. In our royal priesthood we are consecrated for Christian religious worship.
Once we have received Baptism either as a child or an adult, we receive the rights to receive other sacraments such as Eucharist, Reconciliation, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, and the Anointing of the Sick. We receive the rights to be nourished by the Word of God, to be sustained by the other spiritual helps of the Church, and to be called Christians and brothers and sisters by the children of the Catholic Church.
Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God. Justification establishes cooperation between God’s grace and man’s freedom. [CCC 1992]
By the simple pouring of water and the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit we receive sanctifying grace which is the grace of justification that changes us forever. This sanctifying grace gives us the ability to believe in God, to hope in him and to love him. It gives us the power to live & act under the prompting and through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It allows us to grow in goodness through moral virtues.
Once we are baptized, we are baptized forever. We receive an indelible spiritual mark of belonging to Christ even if subsequent sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation. [1264] “In life weaknesses of character as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ.” Indeed, “an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.””
We have the right and the duty to repent, confess our sins and be restored to the fullness of grace. We receive the “seal of eternal life” and Christians who ‘keep the seal’ and are faithful to the demands of Baptism until death can expect the vision of God and the hope of resurrection.
Truly amazing benefits, aren’t they! Since the creation of Adam, God has wanted us to receive these benefits but as sin entered the world by Adam’s disobedience and evil took root in the hearts of mankind witnessed by the murder of Abel by Cain, mankind could not become a tabernacle of the living God. And so God put his plan into motion until the world was ready to be shown the way by Jesus.
Let me share with you some of the ways the Catechism shares of how Baptism has been foreshadowed throughout the history of mankind. Let’s start with the Old Testament.
[1218] “Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and wonderful a creature, has been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred Scripture sees it as “overshadowed” by the Spirit of God: At the very dawn of creation [the Holy] your Spirit breathed on the waters, making them the wellspring of all holiness.13”
[1219] “The Church has seen in Noah’s ark a prefiguring of salvation by Baptism, for by it “a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water””.
[1221] “But above all, the crossing of the Red Sea, literally the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, announces the liberation wrought by Baptism: [The Lord] You freed the children of Abraham from the slavery of Pharaoh, bringing them dry-shod through the waters of the Red Sea, to be an image of the people set free in Baptism.16”
[1222] “Finally, Baptism is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan River by which the People of God received the gift of the land promised to Abraham’s descendants, an image of eternal life. The promise of this blessed inheritance is fulfilled in the New Covenant.”
[1223] “All the Old Covenant prefigurations find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus. He begins his public life after having himself baptized by St. John the Baptist in the Jordan.17”
In John’s Gospel the coming of the Holy Spirit and the voice of the Father at the baptism of Jesus shows the world the effect of baptism for all. The water—symbol of life, of cleansing, of power, of grace is the sign of this sacrament.
[1224] “Our Lord voluntarily submitted himself to the baptism of St. John, intended for sinners, in order to “fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus’ gesture is a manifestation of his self-emptying.20 The Spirit who had hovered over the waters of the first creation descended then on the Christ as a prelude of the new creation, and the Father revealed Jesus as his “beloved Son.”21”
At the beginning of his public life, his baptism shows us the transformation that comes with our own adoptive sonship and acknowledgement by God as our Father.
Baptism is the sacrament of faith. But faith needs the community of believers. It is only within the faith of the Church that each of the faithful can believe. The faith required for Baptism is not a perfect and mature faith, but a beginning that is called to develop. [CCC 1253]
The Church realizes the importance of baptizing children, to bring them into adoption as soon as possible. Yet recognizing the utmost importance of the family as a community of believers, it places restrictions on children whose parents cannot state the desire to catechize the children because they have wandered so far off the path. Years ago a co-worker of my husband wanted to baptize his baby but he didn’t want to go to Mass on Sundays or agree to take his child to receive instruction in the faith. We might call him a “cultural Catholic” or INO: “in name only”. He wasn’t even a CEO Catholic—Christmas, Easter, only. He got really mad at the Church who hoped that this would help him see the dangerous place his soul was in. In the hardness of his heart, he walked away.
You might ask, what right did your parish have to deny baptism to this child? We find an answer in the canon law of the Catholic Church, which is the system of laws and principles to regulate the organization and to order and direct the activities of Catholics toward the mission of the Church. Can. 868 §1. says “For an infant to be baptized licitly: 1/ the parents or at least one of them or the person who legitimately takes their place must consent; 2/ there must be a founded hope that the infant will be brought up in the Catholic religion; if such hope is altogether lacking, the baptism is to be delayed according to the prescripts of particular law after the parents have been advised about the reason.”
The canon law then continues to say: §2. An infant of Catholic parents or even of non-Catholic parents is baptized licitly in danger of death even against the will of the parents.
At the heart of this law is not restriction but hope.
Catechism paragraph 1216, quoting the New Testament scriptures says that “Having become a member of the Church, the person baptized belongs no longer to himself, the person baptized is configured to Christ. The person baptized becomes “light” himself.” [CCC 1216]
Once man is baptized he is reborn in light and the darkness is overcome, however, the darkness of the world constantly tries to extinguish the light of Christ. 8/28/99
The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion. Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness. [CCC 1989]
In Baptism–you are joined to Body of Christ & life. The fullness of this life is revealed to you in stages–as you open your hearts to the fullness. 1/7/03
For all the baptized, children or adults, faith must grow after Baptism. For this reason the Church celebrates … the renewal of baptismal promises. The whole ecclesial community bears some responsibility for the development and safeguarding of the grace given at Baptism. [CCC 1254]
As I shared all the wonderful benefits, why wouldn’t everyone choose to receive baptism?
[1223 cont.] “After his resurrection Christ gives this mission to his apostles: “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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19-20).”
How well have we Christians accepted this mandate of Jesus? We don’t have to look very far in this world to find those who have not yet been baptized. Recently a prominent woman of our town received baptism on her death bed. When her husband told us it was the best day of his life, I was shocked. I had served on committees in our church with this woman and I didn’t know she was not Catholic and had no idea she had not been baptized.
Can one be saved without baptism? The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
[1257] “The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.60 He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them.61 Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.62 The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are “reborn of water and the Spirit.” God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.”
[1258] “The Church has always held the firm conviction that those who suffer death for the sake of the faith without having received Baptism are baptized by their death for and with Christ. This Baptism of blood, like the desire for Baptism, brings about the fruits of Baptism without being a sacrament.”
[1259] “For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them the salvation that they were not able to receive through the sacrament.”
The Catechism also says:
1260 “Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery.”63 Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.”
1261 “As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus’ tenderness toward children which caused him to say: “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,”64 allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church’s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.”
Who can receive baptism?
1246 “Every person not yet baptized and only such a person is able to be baptized.”
1226 “From the very day of Pentecost the Church has celebrated and administered holy Baptism. Indeed St. Peter declares to the crowd astounded by his preaching: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The apostles and their collaborators offer Baptism to anyone who believed in Jesus: Jews, the God-fearing, pagans. Always, Baptism is seen as connected with faith: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household,” St. Paul declared to his jailer in Philippi. And the narrative continues, the jailer “was baptized at once, with all his family.”
“The Redemption of Baptism allows the indwelling of God within the heart of man in relationship not just as Creator and created but in true relationshipas the Holy Spirit dwells within us.
You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit. I’m Patti Brunner. Be sure and check out the other sacraments given in this series in the playlist, and then come back for more. With the holy Spirit, there’s always more!
