October 8, 2023 - Pastor Message
04/30/2024THE YEAR OF MISSION
BAPTISM
“The people were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other apostles, ‘What are we to do, my brothers?’ Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:37-38).
As mentioned last week, a helpful way to look at the sacraments is through the lens of canon law and the minimum requirements for the sacrament to happen by examining the sensible material we use to celebrate them (matter), what we do with that matter (form), who can do the form with the matter (minister), who can receive the sacrament (recipient), and what the the grace of that sacrament does in our lives (effect).
Baptism is a good sacrament to start with, not only because it is the first sacrament we celebrate in our lives, but because its basic requirements are simple and well known. The matter of baptism is water. While we normally use holy water that we bless during the celebration of the sacrament, any water will do. The form of baptism is to pour the water over the person (immersion) or submerge the person in the water three times while praying the required formula: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Who can baptize someone? This is the trickiest requirement because, while ordinarily the minister of baptism is an ordained minister (deacon, priest, or bishop), anyone with the proper intention can baptize someone in danger of death. The reason for this is to ensure that everyone has access to the sacrament due to its unique importance for our salvation. An ordained minister may not always be available when someone is in danger of death, and so the Church, as the dispenser of God’s mercy, has authorized all people with the proper intention to baptize in her name in such situations.
Who can be baptized? Anyone who has not already been baptized. One of the primary effects of baptism is to impart a permanent spiritual mark, or character, on the person, uniting the person with Christ and making the person a member of Christ’s Body, the Church. This character can never be lost, although sin may prevent it from bearing the fruit of salvation in our life. Therefore, once received, baptism is never repeated. This spiritual character is also why baptism is the first sacrament that we need to celebrate before we can receive any other; it makes us one with Christ, the high priest of every sacrament, and members of his priestly people, empowered by the gift of the Holy Spirit to offer true worship in Christ’s name. A final effect of baptism is the cleansing of all sins, including original sin. God’s creation was poisoned by the sin of the first humans, which has spread throughout all time and infected everyone born into that creation. Christ came to heal us of that deadly curse, which he accomplishes through the saving waters of baptism.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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