Catholic Baptism,
God's Gift of Love for us!
Catholic Baptism is one of the Seven Catholic Sacraments, that Jesus instituted while dwelling among us in flesh.
The Sacrament of Baptism is also called:
- Sacrament of Regeneration, because with this Sacrament we are spiritually born to the Life of Grace.
- Sacrament of Adoption, because it infuses the Sanctifying Graces in us, making us adopted Children of God.
- Sacrament of Initiation, because it's with this Sacrament that our lives as Christians begin.
After our Baptism, our life in Christ will develop progressively until perfection is reached, according to the level of our predestination in Christ.
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”- Ephesians 1:4-6
Definition of this Catholic Sacrament
The Sacrament of Roman Catholic Baptism can be defined as follows:
Sacrament of Spiritual Regeneration through washing with water and by invoking the Three Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity.
Invoking the Three Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity is the only correct way to administer this Sacrament, otherwise it has no validity. And by invocation is meant that the words: “ I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” must be spoken.
Thus, people baptized by other expressions (then just mentioned) are not really baptized and do not receive the graces that accompany true Baptism!
Compared to the other Sacraments
What Baptism has in common with all the other Sacraments is that it is the sign of the Grace it gives. But this is the only Sacrament that infuses the Grace of Spiritual Regeneration, letting our souls be born to Eternal Life!
What makes Baptism a Sacrament is the fact that the matter Water is being used.
There are two other kinds of Baptism, which are sufficient for salvation, but are not Sacraments. This is so because with these two kinds of Baptism the element of Water is not present. These are:
The Baptism of Blood, meaning Martyrdom suffered for Christ and the Baptism of Desire, which means a perfect contrition of a non-baptized sinner.
Learn about the effects
The Sacrament of Catholic Baptism produces the following effects in our soul:
- It infuses Regenerative Grace, giving us the Supernatural Life.
- It makes our soul a Living Temple of the Holy Trinity.
- We become Children of God and Heirs to His Glory.
- It makes us Living Members of Christ.
- It imprints the Christian Character in our soul and incorporates us in the Church.
- It takes away the original sin and the actual ones if the soul has any.
- It takes away the punishment due to the sin, but not the consequences.
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, this is an abundant quantity of treasures God bestows on our souls when receiving The Sacrament of Catholic Baptism! This makes us realize how much God loves His people!
If we are Christians who are conscious of the divine greatness and sublimity of our Eternal Destiny, we must live our Baptism intensely.
This means that we have to practice all the virtues necessary to help us grow in our love for God, longing for Holiness, until we unite with Him in Heaven.
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