That's What the Water Gave Me - Part II

Last post we got a super-thorough (sorry) look at what the Sacrament of Baptism means and where we get the idea from in the Bible.  In this post, we’re going to look at the Sacrament of Baptism as most of us would see it celebrated today—baptism of a baby.

So here’s the outline of the Rite taken from The Rites: Vol. 1:

I.   Reception of the Children:

1.      Ideally, sacrament takes place on Sunday (celebration day of the Paschal Mystery).  Rite should be attended by faithful, or at least by family and friends who are all to take an active part in the rite.

2.      Parents accompanied by godparents present child to Church for baptism.

3.      Celebrant greets congregation and asks name of child and what parents ask of the Church.  Parents respond with name of child and “Baptism.”

4.      Celebrant asks if the parents and godparents understand their responsibilities in the baptism of the child.

5.      Celebrant welcomes child and claims him for Christ by signing the child’s forehead with the sign of the cross, and invites parents and godparents to do the same

I guess I’ll just go ahead and give my two cents on each section as I give it to you.  First of all, while we’re being baptized into Christ, we’re being baptized as Christians, and so it’s a good idea to have baptisms done at Mass, if possible, and in the presence of the congregation where the family will be (BETTER be) bringing the child to Church as the child grows up.  This way, there’s a real sense of community being felt here with the rest of the Christian community welcoming a new member into the “flock.”  It only makes the Mass a few minutes longer, and I’ve never seen anyone leave the Catholic Church because they were “sick of all these babies.” 

Next, a “godparent” is simply someone chosen by the parents to help guide the child on their journey of faith.  It should generally be someone who actually PRACTICES and BELIEVES in the faith that the child is being brought into…not just a relative or a friend who couldn’t even tell you where the nearest church IS, and was chosen out of obligation…just sayin’.  According to Canon Law, a godparent must be at least 16 years of age, and must have received the sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist, “and who lives a life of faith which befits the role to be undertaken.” (Canon Law #874.1.3)  The godparent also cannot be the father or the mother. 

Only one godparent is needed for the sacrament, and that one godparent must be Catholic.  Since most people opt for 2 godparents (godfather & godmother), and since there are about 600 billion protestant denominations out there today (ok, so that’s probably a gross exaggeration), it’s not uncommon for a baptized child to have one Catholic godparent, which is the official godparent of the child as far as the Church is concerned, and one non-Catholic godparent (usually a relative or close friend) to fill the other role.  This should be done carefully, though.  The non-Catholic godparent should still be someone who is baptized and lives a good Christian life, regardless of their particular denomination, but should take care to not steer the child away from his Catholic faith.  Unfortunately, though, when I talked about the idea of godparents to my religious education students Monday night, they were surprised.  They thought that your godparents were just supposed to get you nicer gifts than the rest of your aunts and uncles for your birthday and Christmas.  (Sad, but painfully true story.)

Next comes the part where we tie all that we’re doing to the Bible:

II.   Liturgy of the Word:

1. Scripture Readings and Homily:

·         One or two gospel passages are read from 4 selections:

o   John 3:1-6…The meeting with Nicodemus. Nicodemus, a Pharisee, questions Jesus on how a man grown old can be born again.  Jesus answers that no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.

o   Matthew 28:18-20…The apostles are sent to preach the gospel and to baptize.  After His resurrection, Jesus tells His apostles “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

o   Mark 1:9-11…The baptism of Jesus.  Jesus identifies Himself with the people of Israel in submitting to John’s baptism of repentance and in bearing on their behalf the burden of God’s decisive judgment.

o   Mark 10:13-16…Let the little children come to me.  Jesus tells his apostles, “whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”

·         After the reading, the celebrant gives a short explanation of the connection of the subject of the reading(s) with the sacrament taking place.

2. Intercessions (Prayer of the Faithful)

·         Prayers are made for the baptismal candidates, their families, and for the renewal of grace of baptism for all those present, to which the congregation responds “Lord, hear our prayer.”

·         A short Litany of the saints follows including, but not limited to: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Joseph, and Saint Peter and Saint Paul.”  The Litany concludes: “All you saints of God…”  To each line, the people respond: “Pray for us.”

3. Prayer of Exorcism and Anointing before Baptism

·         A short prayer of exorcism is said by the celebrant to cast out the power of Satan, to rescue man from the kingdom of darkness, and to bring him into the splendor of God’s kingdom of light.  All respond: “Amen.”

·         The celebrant anoints each child on the breast with the oil of catechumens. 

·         The symbolism of anointing with oil signifies the Holy Spirit, to the point of becoming a synonym for the Holy Spirit.  Its full force can be grasped only in relation to the primary anointing accomplished by the Holy Spirit, that of Jesus.  Christ (in Hebrew “messiah”) means the one “anointed” by God’s Spirit.  There were several anointed ones of the Lord in the Old Covenant, but Jesus is God’s Anointed in a unique way:  the humanity the Son assumed was entirely anointed by the Holy Spirit who established him as “Christ.”  (CCC 695)

Obviously, we get our main guidance on how to be Christians from the Bible.  Because of this, it’s important that we connect what we do to the Scriptures, and more specifically, to what Jesus actually said and did in the Gospels.  The readings for baptism should reflect this idea so people can make the connection between the life and teachings of Jesus and what’s going on right in front of them.  Just in case they can’t, the celebrant of the baptism can give a short homily.  After this, we offer our prayers for everyone present to have a renewal of our baptism promises.

Then comes the anointing with the Oil of Catechumens.  As mentioned above, it’s reminiscent the Messiah that the Jews were waiting for to save them.  The word Messiah literally means “anointed one.”  The Oil of Catechumens used here is the same oil used in the ordination of priests, the blessing of churches, the consecrations of altars, and the coronations of kings and queens.  Using this same oil here in baptism makes us (as mentioned in the Rite of Baptism) share in Jesus’ threefold mission of priest, prophet and king.  Pretty deep stuff, there.  We are priests in that we are like “bridges” between God and humanity, prophets in that we bring the message of God to the world, and kings in that we have a share in the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Well, that’s about half of the Rite of Baptism, which I think is more than enough for this post.  We’ll finish up our look at the sacrament of Baptism next post, then move on to the other six sacraments.