Baptism

A person who is baptized enters into the life of Christ, becomes part of Christ, is a member of the Body of Christ.‘Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.’ St Paul to the Romans 6: 3-4 The baptized person enters into the death and resurrection of Christ. The technical term for the death and resurrection of Christ is the Paschal Mystery. The child/adult who is being baptized is plunged into the death and resurrection of Christ. This is exactly what the word ‘baptism’ means: it is a Greek word meaning ‘to plunge’ or ‘to immerse’ (baptizo). The child is plunged into Christ. Total immersion in water is a symbol of this plunging. That is why water is the main symbol in a baptism ceremony. We no longer use total immersion but the pouring of wateron the head is intended to have the same symbolic effect. The child is baptized using the symbol of water and the words, ‘I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ The action (the pouring of water) and the words amount to what we call a sacrament. A sacrament is a symbolic action which brings about what the action and words signify. For example, at Mass the bread and wine, together with the words ‘This is my Body,’ ‘This is my Blood’, bring about the presence of Christ. By the action and words of the priest at Mass Christ is truly present on the altar though the externals remain the same. The action and words at baptism create a new Christian: ‘And for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here.’ St Paul to the Corinthians: 2Cor 5: 17.