Day 168: The Celebration of Baptism (1229-1233)

• It’s Day 168!!

• HOW IS THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM CELEBRATED?

• CHRISTIAN INITIATION

• How have people been initiated into Christianity through the Catholic Church

• How did the Church originally bring people in?

• How has that developed over the course of 2,000 years?

• Now we have the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA)

• What do you do when you baptize kids? 

• How do we initiate them?

• Baptism is INITIATION

• BUT…

• It is not the ONLY PART of initiation

• There are other aspects of initiation

• Let’s say a prayer!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we thank you and we give you praise. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, receive our praise and receive our thanks this day. 

Lord God, in the midst of sorrow, in the midst of joy, in the midst of suffering, and in the midst of strength we just give you praise. We ask that you please hear our prayer and pour out your Holy Spirit upon all of us that those of us who are on our way into full initiation with the Catholic Church may get to that place with great joy and great love. And for those of us who have been initiated into the Church, into your Church, we ask that you awaken in our hearts and enliven in our lives your Grace. Your Grace is new every morning. Your mercies are new every morning. And you are here with us now. Bring those graces to life. Ignite them like a smoldering wick or a burning ember, let them become a roaring flame. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• How is it that people have been brought into the Church?

• In the very beginning of our journey in Catechism in a Year we talked about when the Church came into the world at Pentecost

• Peter preached a sermon that convicted people to their hearts

• People wanted to know what they could do to be saved

• Peter said, “Repent and be Baptized every one of you.”

• Thousands of people were Baptized that day

• As the Church continued to spread it became very clear that there needed to be a more thorough process

• The people who were Baptized right away were Jewish

• They were prepared and had been shaped by the Old Testament and the Old Covenant

• So their acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah was a short step

• It made sense

• BUT…

• As the Church continued to expand, there were people that heard the Gospel and came to faith in Jesus

• Their minds were not shaped to the idea of One God

• Their minds were not shaped to the reality that we are made in God’s image and likeness

• Their minds were not shaped to the reality that male and female are created equal

• All of these things involve a DRASTIC AND DRAMATIC CONVERSION

• It’s not just a matter of what we do on Sunday mornings

• We have to see the world through a BIBLICAL LENS

• We have to see the world through the LENS OF JESUS

• THAT IS A BIG CONVERSION!!

• Paragraph 1229 says, “This journey can be covered rapidly or slowly, but certain essential elements will always have to be present: proclamation of the Word, acceptance of the Gospel entailing conversion, profession of faith, Baptism itself, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and admission to Eucharistic communion.”

• These are distinct and essential aspects of Christian initiation

• Paragraph 1231 says, “When infant Baptism has become the form in which this sacrament is usually celebrated, it has become a single act encapsulating the preparatory stages of Christian initiation in a very abridged way. By its very nature infant Baptism requires a post-baptismal catechumenate. Not only is there a need for instruction after Baptism, but also for the necessary flowering of baptismal grace in personal growth.”

• Baptism happens right away in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches

• Before the age of reason

• In the ancient Church and now when there is an adult who has not been Baptized, there is a pre-baptismal catechumenate

• BUT…

• For those of us who were Baptized as infants, there is a need for post-baptismal instruction

• We have Sunday School and it usually happens after Baptism, at least in the West

• There is not just the teaching of the data

• But also the necessary flowering of baptismal grace in personal growth

• We have to not only impart the faith but also elicit faith out of the people

• So not just teaching

• It is also through relationships, discipling 

• Teaching and discipling are also distinct even though they share some aspects

• Teaching means that data is shared 

• Discipling is that but also sharing the very life

• That’s what St. Paul said in Thessalonians, “We did not only share the Gospel of God with you. We also shared our very lives.”

• There is something in that relational ministry that allows for the flowering of baptismal grace in personal growth

• Paragraph 1232 says, “The second Vatican Council restored for the Latin Church ‘the catechumenate for adults, comprising several distinct steps. The rites for these stages are to be found in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA).”

• What used to happen was if someone became a Catholic in adulthood, they met with a priest or a delegate who was authorized to teach

• They would go one at a time

• Which is good for having questions answered one on one

• BUT…

• The Church realized that there is a RITE of Christian initiation for adults

• If we are brought into the Family of God, then why don’t we journey as a FAMILY?

• Not only is there a thorough explanation, teaching, and education in RCIA

• We are also admitted into these rituals in a public way

• There are times during Lent when there is inquiry and the people who are coming into the Church through Baptism are brought before the whole Church and the congregation sees that these are the new brothers and sisters

• They are making these professions of faith

• The Church is gathered around them to pray for them

• There is something really good and communal and churchy about this

• The Body of Christ surrounds these people as they are on their last stages of their journey as they come into the Catholic Church typically at Easter Vigil

• Paragraph 1233 says, “Today in all the rites, Latin and Eastern, the Christian initiation of adults begins with their entry into the catechumenate and reaches its culmination in a single celebration of the three sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist.”

• That’s what happens for adults

• In the Eastern Rites, when they Baptize infants they also have Confirmation and the Eucharist right away

• In the Latin Rite, infants are Baptized and will receive Reconciliation and then First Holy Communion and then be Confirmed

• So what’s the best way to have these rites unfold in a person’s life?

• What is the best way to initiate those who were Baptized as infants?

• If we have been Baptized, what has our post-baptismal catechumenate looked like?

• In what ways has God unpacked and given fruit to the graces that He gave to us since our Baptism?

• Have we walked in faith?

• Have we lived in hope?

• Do we choose to love?

• If we do these things, they are great signs of the Holy Spirit in our lives and that there is a flowering of Baptismal Grace in our lives

• Does that make sense?

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!