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THE SACRAMENTS OF INITATION
On this page you can find out about the
Sacraments of the Catholic Church
and how to go about requesting to receive them.
THE SACRAMENTS OF INITATION
The Catholic Church has seven Sacraments. (C.C.C. # 1113) Of the seven Sacraments of the Church, three of them are Sacraments of initiation to introduce a new convert into the Catholic Church. These are the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist. (C.C.C. # 1212)
The Sacrament of Baptism gives birth to the Christian's life of faith. (C.C.C. # 1210) The Sacrament of Confirmation strengthens him. In the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the faithful receives food for eternal life. (C.C.C. # 1212)
THE NEW LIFE Having died in the old nature with Christ, the new Christian is now called to imitate the life of Jesus through the new heart and spirit that he received as a gift of God during the Sacrament of Baptism. [Rom. 6:8]
Because Jesus obeyed His Father, the Christian is made righteous during the Sacrament of Baptism. [Rom. 5:19] He was buried with Christ during the Sacrament of Baptism so that now he may be raised as a new creation, he too walking in the newness of life. [Rom. 6:4]
"The new creation is everything!" [Gal. 6:15] The new heart and spirit has the blessed hope of not experiencing the spiritual death of the unsaved. Through the Sacrament of Baptism in the name of the Blessed Trinity, the Christian has become a new creation. "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away, see, everything has become new!" [2 Cor. 5:17] Because there is no more traces of the original sin or personal sin in the newness of the person, he is pure in the eyes of God. He has become suitable as a Temple of the Holy Spirit for God to dwell within him as a Christian.
Through the Sacrament of Baptism is fulfilled the promise of Jesus to the woman of Samaria. Jesus said to her, "Believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem..." "The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. [Jn. 4:21-4]
That is why those who are baptised are told to behave as new persons who have been created in the likeness of God, truly being good and holy. [Eph. 4:24] The new heart and spirit must make every effort to control the sinful inclinations of the physical body that is called to die.
THE BODY OF CHRIST As soon as the new convert is baptised, he is received into the Body of Christ, being united to Jesus. (C.C.C. # 790) Through faith in Jesus, the newly baptised Christian receives his new heart and spirit of the seed of God, this qualifying him as a member the invisible family of the people of God. (C.C.C. # 804) He receives the same Holy Spirit as everyone else receives, no matter his gender, his age, his culture or his nationality. [1 Cor. 12:13] (C.C.C. # 1226, 1267)
Through the Sacraments of the Church, the believer begins his spiritual growth in holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit Who is drawing him towards God while purifying him. Most beautiful of all, the Christian is now allowed to receive the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist, the Real Presence, the Body of the Lord Jesus.
BUILDING THE BODY OF CHRIST The Holy Spirit is responsible for the building up of the invisible Body of Christ that is made visible though the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Sacrament of Baptism is the doorway into the Body of Christ. No one can belong to the Body of Christ as a true child of God [1 Jn. 3:1], nor enter the Kingdom of God [Jn. 3:5], unless he is baptised. (C.C.C. # 1257, 1277) These are the Words of our Lord Jesus Himself!
Once the new Christian has entered into the Body of Christ by the grace and love of the Heavenly Father, the Holy Spirit gives him gifts and virtues for the building up of the Church. This allows the new Christian to perform the spiritual works to which he has been called in the Church of Jesus. (C.C.C. # 798)
Now, the newly baptised Christian can say for sure that "Jesus is Lord". [1 Cor. 12:3] Because God sent the Spirit of Jesus in the heart of the baptised Christian, the Holy Spirit can now call out "Abba! Father!" on behalf of the newly born Christian. [Gal. 4:6](C.C.C. # 683, 1997) The new life and the indwelling Holy Spirit are the most beautiful and life saving spiritual gifts that make it possible for the person to know what is spiritual. [1 Cor. 2:13]
RIGHTS AND DUTIES Once baptised and belonging to the Body of Christ, the new Christian belongs to Christ. He is subject to others and required to obey and serve the Church leadership in sincere submission for the successful growth of the Body of Christ. While the Christian has duties to perform towards the Church, he also enjoys the Church Sacraments. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Sacraments help the Christian to grow in his spiritual life to become more like Christ. (C.C.C. # 1269)
CHRISTIAN UNITY Having received these gifts from God, the believer also receives the name of 'Christian' to show that he belongs to the visible (the Church) and invisible (the family of God) Body of Christ (C.C.C. # 1271).
Having been baptized in Christ, the member of the Body of Christ is expected to become actively involved in the Church. (C.C.C. # 1269) Sadly, some people have become Christians by name only, they not shining in the holiness of Jesus as they were meant to. This fall away from the teachings of Jesus has even led to division in the Catholic Church, some groups breaking away from the direct descent of Peter. Because of this, it can be said that the believers in Jesus who have been properly baptised belong to an imperfect union in the Catholic Church. Therefore, they suffer from this imperfection until such time as the Body of Christ becomes one as Jesus intended it to become one. (C.C.C. # 838, 855)
To further explain the above, the physical Church is supposed to be a reflection of the spiritual Church of Christ. While all Catholics are equal and united as one invisible people of God by their new birth of the heart and spirit, they are divided in the visible Church. The purpose of the Divine Plan of God is to have the physical Church reflect the spiritual Church. All of God's people who have been reborn should be one people in one physical Church under one Head, Jesus Christ Himself.
BAPTISM OF INFANTS Because of the greatness of the eternal gift that is received during the Sacrament of Baptism, the Church does not desire to see anyone die without receiving this Sacrament. (C.C.C. # 1250) The Church also realizes that the Sacrament of Baptism requires a Profession of faith, something that infants and younger children cannot profess.
In its spiritual wisdom, the Catholic Church made use of a gift that Jesus gave to the Church. Jesus said to Simon Peter, "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven." [Mt. 16:19] This means that whatever the Church approved on earth by the grace of Jesus and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit for the glory of the Heavenly Father, Heaven will recognize it.
Knowing that it had this power, the Catholic Church determined in its spiritual wisdom to baptise infants as soon as they were born. This would ensure that infants would also receive their new heart and spirit to guide them in life. This would be their guarantee of salvation as children of God should they die before reaching the age of reason.
(Remember - The Council of Trent, genuinely concerned for unbaptized infants who could experience "the death of the soul" because of the original sin due to the disobedience of Adam, it determined that even tiny infants, while they have not committed personal sin, they should be baptized for the remission of sins.)
Because of this decision, the Church also realized that infants must be educated later on after their Baptism, this being a parental role. This is where the catechism serves a great purpose in the Church. (C.C.C. # 1231)
The history of infant Baptism has been traced to the second century and could have also existed during the days of apostolic preaching when entire 'households' were baptised. (C.C.C. # 1252, 1282)
CHRISTIAN PARENTS When infants are baptised, the Christian parents who have given birth to this newborn soul, a gift of God, have an obligation to nurture its new life in the light of God. (C.C.C. # 1251)
THE IMPORTANCE OF GODPARENTS Because Baptism is the Sacrament of faith, when godparents speak on behalf of infants, they are asked what do they ask of God's Church? To this question, they answer, "Faith". (C.C.C. # 1253)
After Baptism, faith must grow within the child. For this reason, the renewal of baptismal promises are made each year at the Easter Vigil. (C.C.C. # 1254)
The parents and godparents of newly baptised infants bear the main responsibility for their spiritual growth and the safeguarding of the grace that the infants receive during the Sacrament of Baptism. (C.C.C. # 1255)
THE BAPTISM OF ADULTS Where the Gospel is being preached, the Baptism of adults is very common. In such cases, the catechism serves the purpose of preparing the adult into the Christian faith and life to receive the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist. (C.C.C. # 1247-9)
In our parish we have a course for those wishing to know more about the Catholic Faith it runs from September to June each year.
for more information consult the Parish Calendar, a copy of which is on this website.
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