Catholic Replies
Editor’s Note: Due to the pandemic, we were unable to hold weekly classes for 22 tenth-grade Confirmation students, so we prepared a series of 14 lessons on the material, along with some questions to answer. If these lessons are of value to you, put them to whatever use you can. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well, so please send them along and we will interrupt this series to answer them. At the bottom of this column, see the postal mailing address and the email address where you can send your question.
Special Course On Catholicism And Life – IX
The first sacrament we receive, usually as babies, is Baptism. It is the foundation of the whole Christian life. Without Baptism, we cannot receive any other sacrament. Jesus said that Baptism is necessary to get to Heaven when He told a Jewish man named Nicodemus that “no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit” (John 3:5). Jesus meant being born again spiritually, not naturally, by having all sin wiped away. That is what happens in Baptism, when water is poured and the Holy Spirit descends on the person.
Jesus asked John to baptize Him in the River Jordan. Jesus did not need baptism (He was God), but He had John submerge Him in the water to show the importance of Baptism and to show that He was taking our place as a sinner, even though He could never sin, just as He would take our place later on the cross, when He died for our sins.
While Baptism is usually administered by a priest or deacon, it can be administered by anybody, say, a nurse in a hospital, if a baby is in danger of death. All the nurse has to do is pour water on the child’s head and say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” and the baby is baptized. If the child gets well, he or she will be taken to the parish church for the rest of the ceremony: anointing with oil, special prayers, placing a white garment on the person as a sign of holiness, and giving the godfather a lighted candle as a sign of the Light of Christ.
Since God wants everyone to get to Heaven (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4), and not every person will have a chance to be baptized with water, there are two other kinds of Baptism. They are baptism of blood, which means being willing to shed your blood and be killed rather than reject Christ (these people are called martyrs), and baptism of desire, which means that you would seek baptism of water if you knew about it and had a chance to be baptized that way.
God puts into everyone’s heart a desire for Him and a knowledge of right and wrong. So if a person uses the grace God gives him and loves other people by not doing bad things to them, that person’s desire to do good is really a desire to be with God, and it is possible for that person to get to Heaven without baptism of water.
We need Baptism because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, which we call original sin. Because we are descended from our first parents, we inherit original sin and need Baptism to take it away. Even though Baptism removes original sin, the effects of the sin remain with us all through life. Thus, we find it easy to do bad things and hard to do good things. So we need to pray, go to Mass, and receive the other sacraments, especially Penance and the Holy Eucharist, to overcome these effects.
Baptism starts us on our journey to Heaven, makes us part of the family of God (the Church), and gives us sanctifying grace to help us do good and avoid evil. It also marks our soul with a special mark or character, which means that we belong to God. Unfortunately, this does not mean that we will always remain faithful to God. He gives us free will, so we can turn away from Him, but no matter what we do, we will always belong to Him, and He will welcome us back if we are truly sorry for our sins.
St. Paul said that Baptism makes us “no longer strangers” to God, but rather “fellow citizens” with the saints and members of God’s household in Heaven (cf. Eph. 2:19). This is why it is so important for parents to have their children baptized as soon as possible after they are born.
List Of Answers
ADAM
BAPTISM
BLOOD
CHARACTER
DEATH
DESIRE
EVE
FATHER
FREE WILL
HEAVEN
HOLY SPIRIT
JOHN
MARTYRS
NICODEMUS
ORIGINAL
PAUL
SACRAMENTS
SON
Quiz:
- _________________ is the foundation of the whole Christian life.
- Jesus told ______________________ that we must be baptized with water and the Holy Spirit.
- Jesus underwent baptism by __ the Baptist to show the importance of Baptism.
- Anybody can administer baptism if a person is in danger of ________.
- The words of Baptism are, “I baptize you in the name of the __________, and of the _________, and of the _________________________.”
- Two other kinds of Baptism are __________ and __________.
- __________________ are those who are willing to shed their blood for Christ.
8.We need Baptism because of the disobedience of ___ and ___.
9.The sin that we inherit from them is called ______________________ sin.
10.We need prayer and the _______________________ to overcome the effects of this sin.
11.Baptism starts us on our journey to _________________.
12.Baptism marks our souls with a special mark or ______________________, which means that we belong to God.
13.God gives us _________________, which means we can turn away from Him. - St. ______________ said that Baptism makes us “no longer strangers” but “fellow citizens” of God’s household in Heaven.
