Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 1st Sunday of Advent.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! There are ten (10) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding the Sacrament of Baptism. The following is a reflection on article 1277.
Some of our non-Catholic neighbors are very fond of asking “Have you been born again?” As followers of Jesus Christ in His Holy Catholic Church we can answer a definitive “yes” to this question if we have been baptized. To be “born again” by water and the Spirit is to fulfill the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ which he shared late one night with Nicodemus (cf. John 3:4–12).
The Sacrament of Baptism is so important to the Lord Jesus that He orders it to be administered as part of His departing words to the Apostles: Go therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (cf. Matthew 28:19). This directive applies to us also, not just the Apostles. One important thing we are to teach is the importance and necessity of Baptism.
Baptism is necessary for salvation according to the Lord’s will: “Unless a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God”(John 3:5). The Greek word ean me translates variously as: “if not” or “unless” or “before” or “except.” We enter the Kingdom of God, the Church, even in the here and now through holy Baptism. When Jesus says: “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believes not shall be condemned” we should take it seriously for He is the “way, the truth, and the life” and the “truth will set us free,” including the truth of the importance and necessity of Holy Baptism (cf. Mark 16:16; John 8:32; 14:6).
The Church too is necessary for salvation according to the Lord’s will. This is because it is from Mother Church that we receive Holy Baptism. We receive Holy Baptism from Mother Church because Christ the Lord has entrusted His sacraments, Baptism included, to her. Holy Mother Church is also necessary for salvation insofar as the Lord Jesus has committed His Gospel to her, to continue His teaching ministry even until He returns at the end of the ages to judge the living and the dead (cf. Acts 10:42; 2 Timothy 4:1–5; 1 Peter 4:5–6). Each of us will be judged not only according to our deeds but also to the extent that we have kept and shared the faith delivered once to all the saints (cf. Romans 2:6; Jude 1:3). When we live holy lives we are living by God’s grace and are being faithful to our Baptism wherein Satan, all his empty works and the glamour of evil were renounced. True love of neighbor will seek to extend the blessing of faith to all we meet, that they too may enjoy friendship with God, divine adoption through Baptism and the life of grace.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr