Baptism and Confirmation
St. Louis Cathedral Basilica RCIA: June 25, 2007
I. Sacraments (review)
A. Number: Seven sacraments: Initiation (3), Healing (2), Service (2)
B. Etymology: The word 'sacrament' comes from the Greek word mysterion, meaning mystery. How are they a mystery? They are a mystery in at least three ways:
1. They are hidden in the Church
2. There is more to them than our physical senses can tell us; beyond the reach of natural science
3. We cannot directly perceive or fully understand how they operate.[1]
C. Definition: "An efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us through the work of the Holy Spirit." (Catechism glossary)
1. The sacraments are signs;
a. This entails that they have a material principle or aspect, as well as a formal aspect.[2]
1. Why is the material element important? Because we are material beings.
2. Contrast with the early heresy called "gnosticism": loosely, "salvation by knowledge".
a. Gnostics: matter is a deterioration of spirit,
b. Matter is evil and to be escaped (by secret knowledge).
c. Gnosticism lies at the root of most heresies; notice relation of sacrament & incarnation:
"[The Docetics] abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not admit that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, the flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father in His graciousness, raised from the dead. And so denying the gift of God, these men perish in their disputatiousness." - St. Ignatius of Antioch (d. 107 AD)
3. Catholicism: Matter is created by God, and is therefore good.
a. Genesis 1:31 "And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good."
b. "We look for the resurrection of the dead". (Nicene Creed)
c. Christ became incarnate.[3]
1. God took on matter, that we might be saved through matter.[4]
2. The [hypostatic] union of the Son with matter is the 'bridge' by which we go to the Father.
"The Fathers of the Church often meditated on the relationship between Eve's coming forth from the side of Adam as he slept (cf. Gen 2:21-23) and the coming forth of the new Eve, the Church, from the open side of Christ sleeping in death: from Christ's pierced side, John recounts, there came forth blood and water (cf. Jn 19:34), the symbol of the sacraments (30)" – Pope Benedict XVI (Sacramentum Caritatis)
b. As signs, they point to the life of Christ, and especially the mystery of His passion.
1. The life of Christ is the divine life, for Christ is divine
2. Through the sacraments we participate in the life of Christ[5]; they are the fruit of the tree of life.[6]
3. Through the sacraments we obtain true knowledge of Christ.[7]
2. The sacraments are efficacious.
a. They are not merely symbolic; "they work by the very fact that the sacramental action is performed"[8]
b. By the work of the Holy Spirit they effect the grace they signify. (Comp. 229)
1. Through the sacraments, the "fruits of Christ's redemption" are communicated to us. (Comp 220)
2. Through the sacraments Christ, by the work of the Holy Spirit, "continues the work of our redemption in, with and through His Church" (Comp. 219)
3. Through the sacraments we receive a "foretaste of eternal life" (Comp 232)
c. Contrast with Zwinglianism: Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1581)
1. Believed that the sacraments were mere ceremonies, mere symbols.
2. He believed that we are saved by "faith alone".[9]
3. This gnostic view of the sacraments makes the Church unnecessary.[10]
d. The efficacy of the sacraments does not depend upon the personal holiness of the minister (Comp 229)
e. The fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them. (CCC 1128)
3. The sacraments were instituted by Christ, and entrusted to the Church.
a. Christ gave them to the Apostles
1. Example 1 (Baptism): "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." (St. Matthew 28:19)
2. Example 2 (Reconciliation): "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (St. John 20:23)
b. The Apostles entrusted the mysteries to the bishops in Apostolic succession.
1. "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." (2 Timothy 2:2)
2. The Church fathers attest to this.[11]
c. The Church is necessary for salvation, because the sacraments are necessary for salvation.[12]
D. The sacraments "presuppose faith", but they also nourish and strengthen our faith.
I. Baptism
A. Etymology: the original meaning of the word was "to dip", "to plunge" or "to immerse"
B. Definition: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water and in the word." (CCC 1213)[13]
C. Prefigured in the Old Testament: Noah's ark, passing through the Red Sea, crossing the Jordan
D. Matter and form: Immersing in or pouring water over the head, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit". (Comp. 260)
E. Who can baptize: Bishops, priests, and (in Latin Church) deacons. Anyone can baptize in case of necessity, provided he has the intention of doing what the Church does. (Comp 260)
F. Who can be baptized: every person who has not yet been baptized. (Comp 257)
G. Baptism is necessary for salvation, for those who have heard the Gospel and have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. (Comp. 261)[14]
F. Signification and effects
1. Baptism signifies and actually brings about the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. (CCC 1215)
a. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (St. John 3:5); baptism is what Jesus means in saying we must be "born again" (John 3:3).
b. "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit." (Titus 3:5)
c. "... when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you – not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience – through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 3:20-21)
d. Through baptism, all our sins, both original sin[15] and personal sins, are washed away.[16]
1. "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)
2. "Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name." (Acts 22:16)
e. But certain things are not removed by baptism
1. Temporal consequences of sin remain (e.g. suffering, illness and death)
2. Weaknesses of character and concupiscence [an inclination to sin] also remain (CCC 1264)
2. Through baptism all punishment due to sin is removed. (Not, however sins committed after baptism.)
3. Baptism signifies and actually brings about our union with Christ in His death and resurrection.
a. The Apostle Paul writes,
"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." (Romans 6:3-5)
b. We are brought into the Church, and brought into fellowship with all Christians. (1267-71)
c. We are made a participant in the divine life of the Trinity. (Comp. 263)
d. We are marked with the "indelible seal of Christ". This is why we cannot be rebaptized.[17]
e. We are given the grace of justification. (CCC 1266)
G. How is the sacrament of baptism celebrated?
1. For infants: shortly after birth
2. For adults
a. pre-catechumen stage: the time of inquiry
b. catechumen stage:
1. catechesis (learning the faith)
2. purification and enlightenment
c. usually at the Easter vigil,[18] ; for the specifics of this celebration see CCC 1234-1245.
H. Some selections from the fathers:
1. Didache (65 – 80 AD)
"Regarding baptism, baptize thus. After giving the foregoing instructions, 'Baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit' (Mt 28:19) in running water. But, if you have no running water, baptize in any other; and if you cannot in cold water, then in warm. But, if the one is lacking, pour the other three times on the head 'in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit.' But before the baptism, let the one who baptizes and the one to be baptized fast, and any others who are able to do so. And you shall require the person being baptized to fast for one or two days."
2. St. Justin Martyr (c. 100-165 AD)
"As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their sins that are past, we praying and fasting with them. They then are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. . . . The reason for this we have received from the Apostles."
3. Tertullian (c. 160- c. 240)
"Happy is the sacrament of our water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free, [and admitted] into eternal life! ... But we, little fishes, after the example of our ICQUS Jesus Christ, are born in water, nor have we safety in any other way than by permanently abiding in [that] water."
4. St. Irenaeus (b. 115-130, d. around 200 AD).
"The Lord also promised to send the comforter, who should join us to God (St. John. 16:7). For as a compacted lump of dough cannot be formed of dry wheat without fluid matter, nor can a loaf possess unity, so, in like manner, neither could we, being many be made one in Christ Jesus without the water from heaven. And as dry earth does not bring forth unless it receive moisture, in like manner we also, being originally a dry tree, could never have brought forth fruit unto life without the voluntary rain from above. For our bodies have received unity among themselves by means of that laver which leads to incorruption; but our souls by means of the Spirit. Wherefore both are necessary, since both contribute towards the life of God."
I. Questions
1. Does baptism guarantee salvation? If not, why not?
2. Why does the Church baptize infants? (CCC 1250-1252)
II. Confirmation
A. Etymology: confirms and strengthens baptismal grace. Also (by the East) called "chrismation".
B. Definition: Confirmation is the sacrament that perfects baptismal grace by the sealing with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
C. Prefigured in the Old Testament: the OT prophets announced that the Spirit would be poured out on the entire messianic people (cf. Joel 2:28-29; Ez 36:25-27)
D. Taught in the New Testament
1. In the gospels we see the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus at His baptism by John. (Matt 3:13-17)
2. Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit. (John 7:37-39; 16:7-15; Acts 1:8)
3. Shown to be distinct from baptism in Acts 8:15-17; notice here that deacons cannot confirm.[19]
"Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit." (Acts 8:15-17)
E. Matter and form: Anointing with consecrated oil with the words, "Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit."
F. Who can receive this sacrament: Only those already baptized can and should receive this sacrament.
G. When should we receive it?
1. In the Latin Church, at the age of discretion.[20]
2. If one is already baptized, one should receive the sacrament of Reconciliation to prepare for confirmation.
H. How many times can one receive this sacrament? Only once. It imprints an indelible spiritual mark on the soul (CCC 1304)
I. Who can administer confirmation: the bishop, though if the need arises the bishop can grant this faculty to priests. (CCC 1313) ; Why only the bishops: Because the bishops are the successors of the Apostles.
J. What does this sacrament signify?
1. The oil signifies the pouring out of the Spirit upon us
2. It also signifies our being sealed by the Holy Spirit.
"Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge." (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
"In Him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit." (Ephesians 1:13)
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." (Eph 4:30)
"And they were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads". (Revelation 9:4)
K. Effects of the sacrament of confirmation:
1. Brings an increase and deepening and growth of our baptismal grace.
2. Increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us, as well as the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:16-25)
3. Roots us more deeply in divine sonship to the Father (Rom 8:15)
4. Binds us more firmly to Christ and to the Church.
5. Gives us a special strength again sin and to witness to the Christian faith (cf. Acts 1:8)
L. Responsibility conferred: A greater obligation to faithfulness in defending the Church and evangelizing others to the fold of Christ.
M. Selections from the fathers:
1. St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386 AD)
"You have anointed my head with oil. (Psalm 22:5) With oil he anointed your head upon your forehead, for the seal which you have from God; that you may be made the engraving of the signet, Holiness unto God. ... But beware of supposing this to be plain ointment. For as the Bread of the Eucharist, after the invocation of the Holy Spirit is mere bread no longer, but the Body of Christ, so also this holy ointment is no more simple ointment, nor (so to say) common, after invocation, but it is Christ's gift of grace, and, by the advent of the Holy Spirit, is made fit to impart His Divine Nature. Which ointment is symbolically [i.e. as a symbol] applied to your forehead and your other senses; and while your body is anointed with the visible anointment, your soul is sanctified by the Holy and life-giving Spirit. ... And to you, after you had come up from the pool of the sacred streams, was given an Unction, the antetype of that wherewith Christ was anointed; and this is the Holy Spirit." (Catechesis 22:7; 21:3)
2. Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 240 AD)
"After this, when we have issued from the [baptismal] font, we are thoroughly anointed with a blessed unction [i.e. oil], -- [a practice derived] from the old discipline, wherein, on entering the priesthood, [men] were wont to be anointed with oil from a horn, ever since Aaron was anointed by Moses; whence Aaron is called 'Christ,' from the 'chrism,' which is the 'the unction'; which, when made spiritual, furnished an appropriate name to the Lord, because He was 'anointed' with the Spirit by God the Father; as [we have it] in the Acts; 'For truly they were gathered together in this city against Your Holy Son whom You have anointed' (Acts 4:27). Thus, too, in our case, the unction runs [down our flesh] carnally, but profits spiritually, in the same way as the act of baptism itself too is carnal, in that we are plunged in water; the effect spiritual, in that we are freed from sins. In the next place the hand [of the bishop] is laid on us, invoking and inviting the Holy Spirit (through the words of benediction)." (On Baptism, Chptr 7,8)
3. St. Cyprian bishop of Carthage (d. 258)
"And therefore, because [the Samaritans] had obtained a legitimate and ecclesiastical baptism, there was no need that they should be baptized any more, but only that which was needed was performed by Peter and John; viz., that prayer being made for them, and hands being imposed, the Holy Spirit should be invoked and poured out upon them (Acts 8:14ff.), which now too is done among us, so that they who are baptized in the Church are brought to the prelates of the Church, and by our prayers and by the imposition of hands obtain the Holy Spirit, and are perfected with the Lord's seal."
4. St. Theophilus bishop of Antioch (fl. ~170 AD)
"Are you unwilling to be anointed with the oil of God? Wherefore we are called Christians [lit. anointed ones] on this account, because we are anointed with the oil of God."
5. St. Jerome (340 – 420 AD)
"Don't you know that the laying on of hands after baptism and then the invocation of the Holy Spirit is a custom of the Churches? Do you demand Scripture proof? You may find it in the Acts of the Apostles. And even if it did not rest on the authority of Scripture the consensus of the whole world in this respect would have the force of a command. For many other observances of the Churches, which are due to tradition, have acquired the authority of the written law." (Dialogue against the Luciferians, Chptr 8)
[1] Jesus said to Nicodemus, "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (St. John 3:8) We can often see the effects of the Spirit, but the actual operation of the Spirit is mysterious to us.
[2] The material principles of the seven sacraments are: (1) Baptism: water, (2) Confirmation: oil, (3) Eucharist: bread and wine, (4) Reconciliation: "the acts of the penitent, namely contrition, confession, and satisfaction, are the quasi materia of this sacrament" (Council of Trent; Sess. XIV, c. 3), (5) Anointing of the sick: oil, (6) Holy Orders: imposition of hands by the bishop, (7) Matrimony: the free offering of a baptized and unmarried man and woman "to give themselves to each other irrevocably in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love". (Comp. 344)
[3] "et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine et homo factus est" (Nicene Creed)
[4] "The flesh is the very condition on which salvation hinges. And since the soul is, in consequence of its salvation, chosen to the service of God, it is the flesh which actually renders it capable of such service. The flesh, indeed, is washed, in order that the soul may be cleansed; the flesh is anointed, that the soul may be consecrated; the flesh is signed, that the soul too may be fortified; the flesh is shadowed with the imposition of hands, that the soul also may be illuminated by the Spirit; the flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul likewise may fatten on [its] God. They [body and soul] cannot then be separated in their recompense, when they are united in their service." Tertullian (On the Resurrection of the Flesh, chptr 8)
[5] St. Peter wrote: "Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." (2 Pet 1:3-4) In giving the sacraments to the Church, Christ has promised that through these mysteries we would be made "partakers of the divine nature", and that we would have the "true knowledge" of God. [Contrast that with the Gnostics].
[6] St. John 6:26-58.
[7] They knew Him through the breaking of the bread. (St. Luke 24:31)
[8] This is the meaning of the Latin phrase used to describe the manner in which the sacraments are efficacious: "ex opere operato", by the very [valid] administration of the sacrament itself, not on the virtue of the minister. That is because Christ Himself, by the Holy Spirit, is the one who "acts in the sacraments and communicates the grace they signify." (Comp. 229)
[9] The Bible nowhere says that we are saved by "faith alone". The only place in the Bible where the words "faith alone" appear in the Bible are in James 2:24, which reads, "You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone."
[10] The Zwinglian notion of the sacraments in conjunction with the claim that we are saved by "faith alone" entails that the Church and her sacraments are not instrumental causes of our salvation, and that the Church is not the body of the incarnate Christ mediating the grace of Christ to us. It makes the Church quite unnecessary for salvation, almost an afterthought. If Zwinglianism were true, the Church could theoretically be replaced by pamphlets or internet videos summarizing the "gospel". The Church could be replaced by marketing firms for the spreading of the "gospel". According to the Catholic Church, however, the Church herself is part of the gospel.
[11] St. Irenaeus bishop of Lyon (b. 115-130, d. around 200 AD) writes: "It is within the power of all, therefore, in every Church, who may wish to see the truth, to contemplate clearly the tradition of the apostles manifested throughout the whole world; and we are in a position to reckon up those who were by the apostles instituted bishops in the Churches, and [to demonstrate] the succession of these men to our own times; those who neither taught nor knew of anything like what these [heretics] rave about. For if the apostles had known hidden mysteries, which they were in the habit of imparting to "the perfect" apart and privily from the rest, they would have delivered them especially to those to whom they were also committing the Churches themselves. For they were desirous that these men should be very perfect and blameless in all things, whom also they were leaving behind as their successors, delivering up their own place of government to these men; which men, if they discharged their functions honestly, would be a great boon [to the Church], but if they should fall away, the direst calamity. Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops. For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its pre- eminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolical tradition has been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist everywhere. The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate. Of this Linus, Paul makes mention in the Epistles to Timothy. To him succeeded Anacletus; and after him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement was allotted the bishopric. This man, as he had seen the blessed apostles, and had been conversant with them, might be said to have the preaching of the apostles still echoing [in his ears], and their traditions before his eyes. Nor was he alone [in this], for there were many still remaining who had received instructions from the apostles." (Against Heresies, Bk. 3, chapter 3)
[12] St. Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258) "He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother." (Treatises, Treatise 1)
[13] "What is the baptism of Christ? The washing of water by the Word (Eph 5:26). Take away the water, it is no baptism; take away the Word, it is no baptism." – St. Augustine (On the Gospel of St. John, Tr. 15:4)
[14] Those without [water] baptism who die for the faith can be saved by "Baptism of blood" (CCC 1258). Furthermore, "Catechumens and all those who even without knowing Christ and the Church, still (under the impulse of grace) sincerely seek God and strive to do his will can also be saved without [water] Baptism; this is called the "Baptism of desire". (Comp. 262)
[15] Original sin: "the state of deprivation of original holiness and justice" (Compendium #76)
[16] Nicene Creed: "we acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins".
[17] CCC 1272-1274. Although baptism is the first step in our union with Christ, it is by its nature an initializing step, and thus a step that can never be repeated. Unlike the Eucharist, baptism is not a form of union that deepens the union upon repetition.
[18] St. Paul tells us that we are "baptized into Christ Jesus". We are baptized "into His death", "buried with Him through baptism". In Romans chapter 6 we see that in baptism we are united to Christ in His death and resurrection. This is not merely figurative language; in baptism we are ontologically united to Christ's death and resurrection in such a way that the character effected in our soul by our baptism is indelible. In 1 Corinthians 15 we see that Christ is the second Adam. The blood and water that flowed from Christ's pierced side are the rib out of which the Bride of Christ is made. In baptism we are immersed into the water that flowed from His side, and thus buried with Him and then reborn in His resurrection; this is why the baptism of catechumens has historically taken place on Easter, for in baptism we are joined to Him in His death and resurrection.
[19] See also Acts 9:17-19; 10:5; 19:5-6; Titus 3:4-8 and Hebrews 6:2.
[20] But "in danger of death children should be confirmed even if they have not yet attained the age of discretion." (CCC 1306). In the Eastern Churches, children are confirmed at baptism.