Saturday, October 20, 2018

200. What happens in Baptism?

What happens in Baptism?
YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 200
Ave Maria series
200  What happens in Baptism?
In Baptism we become members of the Body of Christ, sisters and brothers of our Redeemer, and children of God.  We are freed from sin, snatched from death, and destined from then on for a life in the joy of the redeemed.  [1262-1274, 1279-1280]




Stained glass window: Baptism of Christ by Tiffany .....200




Being baptized means that my person life story is submerged in the stream of God’s love.  “Our life”, says Pope Benedict XVI, “now belongs to Christ, and no longer to ourselves…At his side and, indeed, drawn up in his love, we are freed from fear.  He enfolds us and carries us wherever we may go—he who is Life itself” (April 7, 2007). 126  
“And if (we are) children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”  Romans 8:17
[1262-1274, 1279-1280]
THE GRACE OF BAPTISM

1262 The different effects of Baptism are signified by the perceptible elements of the sacramental rite. Immersion in water symbolizes not only death and purification, but also regeneration and renewal. Thus the two principal effects are purification from sins and new birth in the Holy Spirit (compare Acts of the Apostles 2:38John 3:5)65–Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

For the forgiveness of sins . . .

1263 By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin. (compareCouncil of Florence (1439): Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1316) 66  In those who have been reborn nothing remains that would impede their entry into the Kingdom of God, neither Adam's sin, nor personal sin, nor the consequences of sin, the gravest of which is separation from God. –CCC

1264 Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or metaphorically, "the tinder for sin" (fomes peccati); since concupiscence "is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ."(Council of Trent (1546): Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1515)67 Indeed, "an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules."(2 Timothy 2:5)68–CCC

"A new creature"

1265 Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte "a new creature," an adopted son of God, who has become a "partaker of the divine nature,"(2 Corinthians 5:17; 2 Peter 1:4; compare Galatians 4:5-7)69 member of Christ and co-heir with him,(compare 1 Corinthians 6:15;1 Cor 12:27; Romans 8:17)70  and a temple of the Holy Spirit.(compare 1 Corinthians 6:19)71–CCC

1266 The Most Holy Trinity gives the baptized sanctifying grace, the grace of justification: 

- enabling them to believe in God, to hope in him, and to love him through the theological virtues; 

- giving them the power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit through the gifts of the Holy Spirit; 

- allowing them to grow in goodness through the moral virtues. 

Thus the whole organism of the Christian's supernatural life has its roots in Baptism. –CCC

THE GRACE OF BAPTISM; Being incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ

1267 Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ: "Therefore . . . we are members one of another."(Ephesians 4:25)72  Baptism incorporates us into the Church. From the baptismal fonts is born the one People of God of the New Covenant, which transcends all the natural or human limits of nations, cultures, races, and sexes: "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (1 Corinthians 12:13)73–CCC

1268 The baptized have become "living stones" to be "built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood."(1 Peter 2:5)74 By Baptism they share in the priesthood of Christ, in his prophetic and royal mission. They are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that [they] may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called [them] out of darkness into his marvelous light."(1 Peter 2:9)75 Baptism gives a share in the common priesthood of all believers.—CCC

1269 Having become a member of the Church, the person baptized belongs no longer to himself, but to him who died and rose for us.(compare 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 5:15)76   From now on, he is called to be subject to others, to serve them in the communion of the Church, and to "obey and submit" to the Church's leaders,(Hebrews 13:17)77 holding them in respect and affection.(compare Ephesians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 16:15-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; John 13:12-15)78 Just as Baptism is the source of responsibilities and duties, the baptized person also enjoys rights within the Church: to receive the sacraments, to be nourished with the Word of God and to be sustained by the other spiritual helps of the Church.(compare Lumen Gentium 37Codex Iuris Canonici, cann. 208-223; Corpus Canonum Ecclesiarm Orientalium, can. 675:2)79–CCC

1270 "Reborn as sons of God, [the baptized] must profess before men the faith they have received from God through the Church" and participate in the apostolic and missionary activity of the People of God.( Lumen Gentium 11; compare LG 17; (Ad Gentes7; AG 23)80–CCC

The sacramental bond of the unity of Christians

1271 Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians, including those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church: "For men who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in some, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. Justified by faith in Baptism, [they] are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church."(Unitatis Redintegratio 3)81  "Baptism therefore constitutes the sacramental bond of unity existing among all who through it are reborn."(Unitatis Redintegratio 22 § 2)82–CCC

[THE GRACE OF BAPTISM; An indelible spiritual mark . . .

1272  Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation.(compare Romans 8:29; Council of Trent (1547): Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1609-1619)83  Given once for all, Baptism cannot be repeated. –CCC

1273  Incorporated into the Church by Baptism, the faithful have received the sacramental character that consecrates them for Christian religious worship.(compare Lumen Gentium 11)84  The baptismal seal enables and commits Christians to serve God by a vital participation in the holy liturgy of the Church and to exercise their baptismal priesthood by the witness of holy lives and practical charity.(compare Lumen Gentium 10)85–CCC

1274  The Holy Spirit has marked us with the seal of the Lord ("Dominicus character") "for the day of redemption."(St. Augustine, Ep. 98,5:Patrologia Latina 33,362; Ephesians 4:30; compare Eph 1:13-14; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22)86  "Baptism indeed is the seal of eternal life."(St. Irenaeus, Dem ap. 3:SCh 62,32)87  The faithful Christian who has "kept the seal" until the end, remaining faithful to the demands of his Baptism, will be able to depart this life "marked with the sign of faith,"(Roman Missal, EP I (Roman Canon) 97)88  with his baptismal faith, in expectation of the blessed vision of God - the consummation of faith - and in the hope of resurrection. –CCC

IN BRIEF
1279  The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes forgiveness of original sin and all personal sins, birth into the new life by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. By this very fact the person baptized is incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ, and made a sharer in the priesthood of Christ. –CCC

1280 Baptism imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which consecrates the baptized person for Christian worship. Because of the character Baptism cannot be repeated(compare Denzinger Schönmetzer 1609 and DS 1624)–CCC


Stained glass window Tiffany



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