Baptism

Baptism is the first of the sacraments and the door to all the others. Through it, man is born to a new life, becomes a child of God, a member of Christ and of his Church. It is a new birth: by natural birth, man receives human life; by baptism, he receives divine life, a sharing in the very life of God, what is called sanctifying grace.

A new birth

Christ revealed its necessity to Nicodemus, that notable who came to question him by night, telling him that one cannot see God without being born from above. “Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:5 Water and the Spirit act together: water is the visible sign, the Spirit the invisible power that gives life.

The figures of the Old Covenant

God had prepared this sacrament by figures, throughout the Old Covenant, where water already holds this twofold power to destroy and to save. At the Flood, the waters engulf a world given over to sin, and bear the ark that saves the righteous. “a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. Whereunto baptism, being of the like form, now saveth you also.” 1 Peter 3:20-21 At the going out from Egypt, the people cross the Red Sea dry-shod; the waters that open before them close again upon Pharaoh. “our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. And all in Moses were baptized, in the cloud and in the sea.” 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 Israel enters the water a people of slaves and comes out a free people; the baptized enters the water a slave of sin and comes out a child of God, the old servitude swallowed up behind him. The crossing of the Jordan, which brings Israel into the Promised Land, likewise announces the entry of the baptised into life.

The baptism of Christ

Christ himself went down into the waters of the Jordan. Without sin, he had no need to be purified; he ranged himself among sinners to take their condition upon himself, and in touching the water, he sanctified it so that it might henceforth wash and give new birth. As he comes up from the water, the whole Trinity is revealed. “And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove. And behold a voice from heaven saying: This is my beloved Son.” Matthew 3:16-17 Christian baptism thus plunges into this water that Christ crossed first, and gives what his own announced: the Spirit received and the name of child of God.

The purification of all sin

Baptism wipes away all sin. It remits original sin, that privation of grace inherited from the origins, and, in one who receives it after the age of reason, all the personal sins committed until then. The soul comes forth entirely purified, washed of every debt before God, and receives at the same time the gift of the Spirit. “Do penance: and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Acts 2:38

The new life in Christ

Baptism gives still more than a pardon: a new life. The baptised is reborn a son in the Son: through Christ he becomes an adoptive child of the Father and is given to live before him by the very life of the only Son. He receives sanctifying grace, becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit, and receives with it the virtues of faith, hope and charity, which make him able to believe, to hope and to love in God. The very name of the sacrament tells this entry: the Greek verb rendered as “to plunge,” baptizein (βαπτίζειν). To go down into the water and to come up again figures the death and resurrection of Christ, in which the baptised is buried with him to rise to a new life. “For we are buried together with him by baptism into death: that, as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4

Incorporated into Christ and his Church

The same Spirit who gives the baptised new birth unites him to Christ and incorporates him into his body. He becomes a member of a people, brought into the Church. “For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body.” 1 Corinthians 12:13 United to Christ priest, prophet and king, he takes part in his priesthood, to offer his life to God, in his prophetic mission, to bear witness to the Gospel, and in his kingship, to serve. Every distinction of origin is effaced among the baptised, become one in Christ.

The minister and the matter

The sacrament is brought about by a simple gesture and precise words. The matter is natural water, poured on the forehead or received by immersion; the form is the word pronounced at the same time: “I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” This formula comes from the Lord himself, who gave it to his Church for all time. “Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” Matthew 28:19 The ordinary minister is the bishop, the priest or the deacon; but in case of necessity, when a life is in danger, anyone may baptise, even an unbaptised person, provided he pours the water while pronouncing the formula and has the intention of doing what the Church does.

The indelible seal

Baptism imprints on the soul a mark that cannot be effaced, a spiritual seal that configures one to Christ for ever. This is why it is received only once and can never be repeated. Marked with this seal, the baptised puts on the very life of Christ. “For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ.” Galatians 3:27

Its necessity and the baptism of children

The Church holds baptism to be necessary for salvation, according to the very word of the Lord. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Mark 16:16 For those who die without having been able to receive it, two ways supply for water. The desire for baptism, united to faith and charity, obtains the grace for one who would have received it had he been able, and this desire may be only implicit in the one who seeks God and follows his conscience: this is the baptism of desire. The martyrdom endured for Christ configures one to the dead Christ and gives what the sacrament gives: this is the baptism of blood. From the adult who asks for it, baptism awaits faith and conversion: to believe what God reveals and to turn away from sin, in order to gather its fruit. The Church also baptises little children, to open this grace to them at the very threshold of their life, confident that the gift of God always precedes the response of man.

And when a child dies without having been able to receive baptism, the Church does not despair of him: knowing no other sure way to salvation than the sacrament, she nonetheless entrusts him to the mercy of God, who wills that all men be saved, and leans on the very tenderness of Christ for the little ones. “Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:14 She entrusts these children to the one who calls them, in a firm hope.