Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the Easter Sunday.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The tenth article of the Apostle’s Creed is “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.” There are four (4) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 985.
The Catechism has an entire section on the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Here while treating the Creed Holy Baptism is mentioned because it is the unrepeatable and irreplaceable beginning of our life in Christ and the first taste we have of His mercy and forgiveness (cf. John 3:1–6; Ephesians 4:5). While the mercy of God is given us initially in Holy Baptism, the mercy of God is available for us throughout our lives should we ever sadly find ourselves in a state of sin. While Holy Baptism is the first and principal sacrament for the forgiveness of sins, it is not the only sacrament whereby God extends His grace and mercy to us. The Greek words baptizo/baptisma mean to wash or an ablution.
Building on John’s baptism, though different from it, the Sacrament of Baptism in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is not only a Sacrament of Initiation, making us followers of Christ, but also a sacrament of regeneration, of penance and the forgiveness of sins (cf. Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3; Acts 13:24; 19:3–4). John’s baptism was of penance and preparation for Christ. Baptism in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit begins our life in communion with God who is all holy (cf. Matthew 28:19; Mark 1:24; Luke 1:35; 4:1, 34; Revelation 4:8).
Holy Baptism unites us to Christ who died and is risen (cf. Romans 6:4). Our union through Holy Baptism is with both Christ Himself and His mystical body, Mother Church. In Holy Baptism our old selves are buried in the waters and we rise renewed in the risen Christ (cf. Colossians 2:12). Amongst the ‘filth of the flesh’ which Holy Baptism washes away included are the filth of Original Sin which we inherit with our human nature from our First Parents and any sins we have personally committed up to the point of Baptism (cf. 1 Peter 3:21).
The gift of the Holy Spirit, which is part of the grace of Holy Baptism, helps us to avoid sins and to recognize them when we sadly commit them and to repent and confess them accordingly so as to return to a state of grace, pleasing in the sight of the Lord (cf. John 16:7–9; Romans 8:15, 23; 12:1; Ephesians 5:27; Colossians 1:22). Our reception of the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism makes us more like Christ who Himself was filled with the Holy Spirit (cf. Luke 10:21). That the Holy Spirit is given in Holy Baptism fulfills the teaching of Saint John the Baptizer who acknowledged Jesus as greater and whose Baptism was greater (cf. Luke 3:16).
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr