Easter is the time when many adults are baptized and
become part of the Church, having completed the time of learning
about the faith known as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.
Easter is always focused on baptism and it is the most important time
for baptism to take place, as the whole focus is on new life. I
always find it very inspiring to see adults lined up for baptism at
the Easter Vigil. It is a reminder of what we take for granted.
Recently someone asked me to try and explain baptism and confirmation
and that’s what I would like to do. In order to make sense of it we
need to go way back to the beginning.
We believe that God created everything; the world
around us that we see and the invisible world that we cannot yet see.
We also believe that God’s greatest creation was the human being.
It says in Genesis that the last thing God created was the human
being, which is a biblical way of saying that we were the most
important thing that God created. We are more like God than anything
else that was created, especially because we have free will. But free
will also comes at a cost.
We also believe that somewhere way back at the
beginning, humanity sinned against God. There was some kind of
rejection of God and of his word, which is explained through the
story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We don’t know exactly
what happened, but we know that there was some kind of rebellion
against God and we call this Original Sin.
Because of this sin we now lost the possibility of eternal life with God which God intended for us. It says in the story that Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden. They had lost what God originally intended for them. This was a disaster as we could not resolve this problem ourselves.
Because God loves his creation He would not leave us
in that situation and so, through the death and resurrection of
Jesus, the perfect offering was made to the Father which overcame
Original Sin. The power of Original Sin was broken and we were set
free, restoring to us the possibility of eternal happiness with God.
However, because gave us the extraordinary gift of free will, God
does not force this on us, but simply offers it to us. We have to say
yes to it. We have to accept this gift which God offers us and we do
that by being baptized. When we are baptized we are saying, ‘Yes, I
believe this and I want this. Let me be baptized in it, soaked in
it,’ That’s what baptism is, but we must consciously ask for it.
If that is true, then why do we baptize infants who
don’t yet have the understanding of baptism? We baptize infants
because we want this grace for them from the beginning of their lives, but on
condition that we will teach them their faith as they grow up.
Otherwise it is hypocrisy. To baptize an infant without the intention
of teaching them about their faith as they grow up is hypocrisy and
that’s why the parents and God-parents make the vows of baptism,
promising to pass on this faith as best they can. If an adult comes
to me for baptism, they first have to go through what we call the
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, during which time they will
learn about their faith. Only when they understand it properly will
they be baptized. Recently I spoke to a man who was telling me that
he and his wife drove two hours each way to go to the RCIA classes so
that they could be baptized. Two hours each way, for several months!
That is so inspiring to me.
So, to be baptized is to say 'yes, I believe all that
God has done for me and I want it all. Let me be soaked in it,
baptized in it'.
What about those who are never baptized, such as our
brothers and sisters who are Muslim or Hindu? Can they go to heaven
too? Of course they can. We understand that it is necessary for us to
be baptized in order to enter life with God, but that doesn’t mean
that God can’t bring it about for others who have no understanding
of baptism. But for us who understand it, baptism is necessary and
that’s why it is so important. God’s power is not limited to any
one way. God will speak to people of other faiths in ways that we
don’t understand.
Where then does confirmation fit in? Confirmation is
really the other half of baptism. It is the time when we receive the
gift of the Spirit to strengthen us for living the Christian life.
One confirms the other; hence ‘confirmation.’ For children
we wait until they are old enough to understand what confirmation is,
since they were baptized when they were too young to understand, but
for adults they usually receive the two together. The important thing
is that these are gifts to us from God, to help us. Everything we
receive from God is to help us and is given out of love for us. That
is why the Apostles baptized people and then prayed with them for the
gift of the Spirit, so that they were ready for our life with God on
earth.
Every
time we pray the Creed we are stating what we believe and that we
want this for ourselves and our children. We want all that God is
offering us.
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