Questions of Faith Understanding the sacrament of baptism

I have a friend who says baptism is just a symbolic act and has nothing to do with salvation. How can I answer them?

In order to address the topic of baptism and salvation, we first have to look at our understanding of a sacrament. A sacrament is a visible sign instituted by Christ of an invisible grace to assist us in salvation. As human beings, we are both body and soul, so material symbols (things and words and gestures), which our mind and body can perceive, allow our spiritual souls to receive God’s unseen grace, which is “the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1996).

The outward signs of the sacraments have two parts: The matter, which is the “thing” itself used along with the accompanying action (for example, pouring water for baptism), and the form of words which give significance to what is being done (“Mary Catherine, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”). We believe there are seven sacraments, and each imparts grace. They provide sanctifying grace, which is sharing in God’s own divine life. In addition to the sanctifying grace, each sacrament also gives the sacramental grace of that sacrament, which are other supernatural helps God wills to give us to aid our particular spiritual needs and our particular state in life.

Ultimately, the sacraments enable us to believe the truths of the faith, live according to God’s moral code, and grow in the gift of divine life. Therefore, not just baptism, but all the sacraments are not just a symbolic act with no connection to salvation. Each is an important means to grace and salvation. While God can work outside the sacraments to provide grace and salvation to the soul, these are the ordinary means by which God offers an extraordinary way of living out our faith lives.

If we look specifically at baptism, we come to see it as something more than a symbolic act. There are a number of effects that come from baptism. First is the forgiveness of sin. It gives supernatural life to a soul that had been cut off from God by original sin, that had been supernaturally dead. Baptism then becomes the gateway sacrament to all the other sacraments, the door that allows a person to enter the dwelling of divine life with God and also absorb the grace of the other six sacraments. Baptism opens the soul to the flow of God’s love and establishes union between the soul and God.

Secondly, certain sacraments leave an indelible mark or character that permanently alters the soul. The sacramental character configures the baptized person to Christ, so that Christ dwells within him or her. St. Paul explains, “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:19-20). Through baptism, we are formed in the likeness of Christ and share in his office as priest, prophet and king.

Additionally, baptism gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, who also confers sanctifying grace to the one baptized and provides the sevenfold gifts— wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God. The seven gifts are given to every baptized Christian from his or her earliest days. They are given at baptism for us to develop through experience and are indispensable to the successful conduct of the Christian way of life. Confirmation will give us the fullness of the gift of the Holy Spirit and the associated gifts.

The Holy Spirit, who is not just an impersonal power or force, brings about a personal union with Christ and unites us as adopted sons and daughters with the father, which is another effect of baptism. We share in the divine nature of God. St. Paul reminds us, “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17).

Baptism also incorporates us into the church, the body of Christ. The union with the church involves communion of faith and looks forward to the reception of Holy Eucharist so that, as we hear at Mass in Eucharistic Prayer III, we “who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ.”

In the end, the symbolic action of baptism brings about the reality of salvation from sin and death to a life united within the Triune God. Baptism makes visible the fact that God’s salvation in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit has taken hold of the baptized person so that sins are forgiven, and he or she is put in right relationship with God and truly has been called to a newness of life, a rebirth. “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (John 3:5). BC

Reflections

Readings Between the Lines

By now you are probably aware that we are anticipating the installation of Bishop Mario Dorsonville as the Fifth Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux. With that in mind, I intend in this article to focus mainly on the New Testament foundation for the ministry of the bishop. I do so because this is a Scripture column. The role of the bishop, of course, while rooted in the New Testament, has grown and developed over the centuries.

The Greek word which is translated “bishop” is episkopos, which means an “overseer.” The verbs related to episcopos mean “to look upon,” “consider,” or “to have regard for (someone or something).” When the related verbs are used in the New Testament there is a sense of concern (for another) or care. A classic example is found in the context of Matthew’s (25:36) last judgment scene, in which Jesus declares that the heirs to the kingdom will be those who tend to the needs of those who are hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, ill or imprisoned. The verb occurs when Jesus speaks of helping the sick; “I was ill and you cared for (or “looked after”) me.” So the bishop’s role incorporates the concept of caring for needy persons.

The term episkopos (again = “bishop”) is only found five times in the New Testament (Acts 20:28; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 2:25). In Acts 20:28, Paul admonishes the overseers in the Christian community in Miletus, “... keep watch over yourselves and the whole flock.” In the next two verses Paul explains that his concern is motivated by the fact that “savage wolves” will come among them and pervert the truth (which Paul taught them). Here, the care of the overseer has to do with protecting the community members from a corrupted understanding of the faith Paul proclaimed to them.

With this said, it should be noted that in Acts 20:17, Paul summons the elders of the church in Miletus. The overseers mentioned in 20:28, are most likely the same people as the elders mentioned earlier. In addition, in a church community there may have been multiple overseers as well as elders. After the first century overseers and elders begin to be more clearly identified as separate groups. In time overseers were viewed as “bishops” and “elders” as “presbyters” or “priests.” At some point “bishops” were viewed as having a superior authority. However, in the first century, (e.g. in Acts, which was written between 70 and 90 A.D.) the functions of overseers and elders (and some would point out also “deacons”) were not yet distinct. Indeed, in Titus 1:6-9, the author begins mentioning the qualifications of elders (1:6) and then says in verse 7. “For it is necessary that an overseer be blameless ... .” In other words, elders and overseers here are the same people.

1 Timothy 3:1, (which dates to the late first century) speaks of those who aspire to the function of an overseer (episkopē). Those who do so must display virtue and the ability to govern their families appropriately if they are to be effective overseers of the community.

In 1 Peter 2:25, Christ is described as the “shepherd and overseer of your souls.” The terms “shepherd” and “overseer” here are not different functions, rather, as overseer Christ exercises pastoral care over his flock. The author describes Christ in the way mentioned above after advising those who suffer unjust punishment (particularly slaves) to look to the example of Christ who refrained from verbally retaliating when insulted and threatening those who caused him to suffer (2:18-23). Christ, then, exercises caring oversight over believers’ souls by providing them a model for behavior in trying circumstances.

The term overseer appears in New Testament works which are generally dated to the last one-third of the first century (except for the occurrence in Philippians 1:1). During the