What Are You Looking For? Part 2: The Liturgy and the Sacraments

The Sacrament of Baptism: Why Do We Do It?

The Sacrament of Baptism: Why Do We Do It?

            Besides the fact that we are commanded both by word and by the example of the very Son of God himself to be baptized, Baptism accomplishes many things in the lives of those who receive the Sacrament.  If we just look at the examples from the Old Testament from the last blog, we can see what some of those things are.  Noah was saved by the waters of the flood from the evil that surrounded him.  The Israelites were saved by the waters of the Red Sea from slavery and bondage to the Egyptians.  Joshua and the Israelites then proceeded to inherit all that had been promised to them by God after passing through the waters of the Jordan River.

            When we are baptized, the same things happen to us, to our soul.  The Catholic Church teaches that there are two kinds of sin: Original Sin and Actual Sin.  Original Sin is what we inherit from Adam and Eve.  Its consequences are felt by every person who gets sick and ages and dies.  Actual Sin are all the sins we commit as we go through life.  These can be either Mortal, which rupture the relationship between us and God, or Venial, which damage the relationship, but don’t rupture it.  When we are baptized, all sin, Original and Actual, Mortal and Venial, is washed away.  Everything you ever did is gone.  It doesn’t exist anymore.  It’s not covered with a white sheet, as Martin Luther taught.  It’s gone.  It’s not viewed through the lens of Jesus’ shed blood.  It’s gone. 

            Baptism also places on our souls an indelible mark.  We are marked as God’s children.  As St. Paul wrote many times, we are heirs and co-heirs with Christ.  We are born into God’s family.  Every Christian becomes our brother and sister (whether they are Catholic or not).  That mark cannot be erased.  Not ever.  “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb?  Even should she forget, I will never forget you.  See, upon the palms of my hands I have engraved you;” (Isaiah 49:15 NABRE) That’s the indelible mark.  Only we can choose not to honor that mark by how we live our lives.  But it will always be drawing us back to the One who engraved our names on His hands.

Finally, like Joshua and the Israelites crossing into the Promised Land, through our Baptism, one day we, too, will cross over.  We will leave this life.  We will finally be free of the evil that surrounds us.  We will be free of the sin that seeks to enslave us.  On that day we will pass through the waters of death and not just spiritually be raised to new life here on earth, we will be raised to new life with God.  We will behold what Catholics call the Beatific Vision.  We will see God face to face.  Like the Israelites entering the Promised Land after wandering in the desert for forty years, we will finally be home.