Introduction
The Sacrament of Baptism, as we may remember from our catechism class during our early school days, is defined as, “the sacrament that gives our souls the new life of sanctifying grace by which we become children of God and heirs of heaven.” Oftentimes, however, we have taken for granted this divine privilege of having been elevated as adopted sons and daughters of God. As we grew older and advance in our knowledge of the different things in the world, we missed and fail to remain grounded in the knowledge of the basics our faith. Everything seems to be just
in the head level and giving importance to it and taking it by heart is even not anymore relevant. Sometimes it is pitiful and shameful on the part of an adult Christian to be found out that he has never exerted in his effort to know more about his faith but instead remained stagnant in the exercise of his mental capacities. It is therefore important and compelling as a challenge to have a good grasped and a strong foundation as regards the understanding of the tenets of our faith as Christians.The Notions of the Sacrament
Baptism as we all know is the sacramental bond of unity and the foundation of communion among all Christians. Hence its dignity and the manner of administering it are matters of great importance to all Christ’s disciples. The Church’s two principles about baptism is: that Baptism is necessary for salvation, and that it can be conferred only once. For Christians, Baptism therefore holds and assumes a special significance and for them it is a symbol of salvation.
For the first disciples and early followers of the Lord Jesus, baptism enables them to enter into the mystery that Jesus had revealed to them. They entered it socially for by being baptized they joined the community that accepted Jesus as the source of their salvation. In the same manner, they also entered it intellectually for by reflecting on the ritual of baptism they penetrated the mystery that it represented.
A number of people may think that the metaphor of washing summarize all the teaching about baptism. They may assume that the purpose of this particular sacrament is to cleanse us from the original sin we inherited from our first parents and so its outward sign is a bodily wash, done to symbolize the spiritual washing of the soul. And what a pity and a disgrace that this poor understanding or view about the sacrament is in reality is prevalent. We may say that it should not be the right and correct way of understanding it since we know that the metaphor of washing is scriptural and it is also of long usage in other religions. For us Catholic Christians, we believe that baptism, though rich in symbolism, is indeed the sacrament of our salvation. We say that it is the gateway or entry into the other sacraments.
The Symbolism of the Sacrament
Water is an essential element in the celebration of the sacrament of baptism. It is a natural symbol, not only in the sense that it can easily be found in nature but also in the sense that it naturally lends itself to symbolizing many things. Water cleanses, and in many religions people wash themselves as a sign that they want to be or have been made clean spiritually as well as physically. Water refreshes and in some religions bathing in rivers enables people to experience a regeneration of energy and to feel connected to the source of that energy. Water gives life, and so initiation rituals which mark the beginning of a new way of life often involve washing or immersion in water. Taking all these examples, we may ask what does it contribute or bring about in our understanding of the sacrament of baptism. Well, at any rate they would be relevant in the proper understanding of the meaning of the washing ritual done in baptism.
If we will simply analyze the mere act of using water for washing, we will realize that it is basically superficial and natural. Every time we wash, for example when we take a bath, the water we used for bathing does not penetrate us within nor change what we are. We are still the same person we are before taking a bath. Now if we apply it to the washing ritual of baptism, an enormous difference now in meaning of the reality should be considered. Baptism changes a man through and through and profoundly alters him and affects his personality.
The Importance of the Sacrament
Jesus Christ began his making of baptism with his own baptism by John in the River Jordan. Tradition has always seen this as a decisive moment in the foundation of Christian baptism. In receiving publicly the baptism of John, Christ gave his approval to this baptism of repentance. However, we must see a deeper significance in his action. John’s baptism was as immediate preparation for Christian baptism. Christ received it to manifest what was to come and to inaugurate the work of bringing the new reality and likewise it has been said that it inaugurated his public ministry.
Baptism in this regard became the first step in the Christian walk of life. It is a ritual action normally performed on infants and in some cases on adults and converts. Baptism was, of course, necessary for salvation because it had been commanded by Christ and because without it one could not receive the other sacraments.
Baptism causes our membership to the Catholic Church. In becoming a member of the Church by baptism, we are not just joining a society of men. The Church is no ordinary society; it is the Body of Christ. To join the Church is to be made one with Christ; for the Church and all the members of the Church achieve a kind of identity with Christ. This at once confronts us with the mystery of our redemption by Christ. We do not become Christians simply by accepting the teaching of Christ and receiving from him the graces that he merited in a redemptive work in which we have no part. We become Christians only by sharing in the redemptive work itself. We have to relieve in our own experiences the death and resurrection of Christ. Our identification with Christ is the reproduction in ourselves of what he underwent. We, as sinners, could not achieve a death and resurrection of ourselves. But Christ has gone before us, and his death and resurrection is the power by which we die and rise again. In brief, we die with Christ and rise again with him – in baptism.
The Effects of the Sacrament
In a very special sense, baptism is the sacrament of our dying and rising with Christ. The reason is that in it we achieve the essential transition from the old order to the new. The baptized essentially belong to the new order of the Resurrection. They have entered a new existence and possess eternal life. They have passed from darkness to light, from slavery to freedom, from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of Christ. The transition, however, is not yet complete, but what remains to be done is growth whereas baptism was the birth.
What are the implications of our baptismal death and resurrection then? The death meant for us the destruction of sin and release from the power of Satan. We were born deprived of grace, cut off from God by original sin due to our first parents’ sin, and our baptismal death was the destruction of that state of sin. Baptism takes away all sin, both original and personal (in case of adult baptism). In taking away sin, baptism freed us from the slavery of Satan. But we should remember however that our death to sin is not completed when we receive baptism since the consequences of sin are not entirely removed. The disorder within ourselves is counteracted but not extinguished. We have to struggle against it and complete our baptismal death by our personal efforts and draw on the strength of Christ given to us particularly in the other sacraments.
Conclusion
It is of prime importance to take into consideration the following Divine Truths of the Sacrament of Baptism and we try to inculcate them into our hearts and minds for us not to lose sight of our salvation through our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ who gave us the grace of the sacrament and enables us to call God our father. First, because of Baptism we have been redeemed. “Christ died for our sins once and for all, a good man on behalf of sinners, in order to lead you to God” (1 Pet. 3: 18ff). Second is that we were promised eternal life. “In this way, He has given us the very great and precious gifts he promised, so that by means of these gifts, you may escape from the destructive lust that is in the world, and may come to share the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). Third is that we become adopted sons of God. “When the right time came, God sent His own Son…to show that you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who cries out, Abba, Father. So then, you are no longer a slave but a son. And since you are His son, God will give you all that He has for His Son” (Gal. 4:4-7). The fourth truth is the forgiveness of our sins. “Courage, my son, your sins are forgiven” (Mt. 9:2). The fifth is that we were promised a changed life. “You became God’s people when you heard the true message, the Good News that brought you salvation” (Eph. 1:13). From these scriptural truths, the privilege and power of our Divine sonship brought to us by our Baptism are fully disclosed for our clear understanding. We belong to the household of our Father as adopted sons and daughters through the merits of Christ Jesus. We therefore should be aware of our distinct divine privilege to call on our Father for anything we may need and believe that His providence shall be with us always in the way He wills it in His time.