The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 166: Introduction to Baptism (2024)

Episode Date: June 14, 2024

Together, we begin the chapter on the sacraments of initiation, specifically the section on the sacrament of Baptism. Fr. Mike unpacks the different names that the Church employs when discussing Baptism, such as the “washing of regeneration and renewal” and “enlightenment.” He concludes with a reflection on the prefigurations of Baptism in the Old Covenant. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1210-1222. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith, the Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 166. We're reading paragraphs 12, 10 to 12, 22.

As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. And you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. You know that already because this is day 166. You've been following along forever and now we have a new, we're at another corner,

another corner returning. We're going into section two, the seven sacraments of the church. And this is incredible. If you have the, the foundations of faith approach, you know, this whole thing we have through ascension, you can see that here we are in part two, Celebration of the Christian Mystery, the Sacrament section two, Initiation, Healing and Service. We have today's launching into the seven sacraments. You know, this whole thing we've been talking about

for the last bunch of days has been all about what's the groundwork for the liturgy, right? What are the ground, what's the groundwork for the work of the people joining in the work of God? And now we have some practicals. I mean, it's also the mystery behind it as well. So if you're thinking we're gonna miss the mystery, we're not gonna miss the mystery, ton of mystery,

but also, wow, here are the actual sacraments. And so we're gonna read through those today, looking at chapter one, the sacraments of Christian initiation. So the very first sacrament of Christian initiation is baptism. So that's what we're going to launch into and we're going to see how this is prefigured, the prefigurations of baptism in the Old Covenant. So there's going to be a little breaks every so often where if you have this, if you have it in front of you,

you'll see like in smaller text like beginning on paragraph 1217 and then 1218, 1219, I think there's one more in 1220. There are prayers taken, it's a section of prayers taken out of the Roman Nostril when you have the Easter Vigil. And so it's the blessing of the water of baptism that baptizes people at the Easter Vigil. And so just FYI, if you're saying, wow, in the middle of this It sounds like he's saying a prayer. That's because I am there's little prayers that basically call to mind the ways in which Baptism was prefigured in the Old Covenant. So that's what we're gonna hear about today baptism sacrament baptism sacraments of initiation Oh, let's launch into it today and ask the Lord the God, who is the author of baptism and the giver of life,

to come and meet us right now. Father in heaven, you are good, and you are God. And you made us your children through the waters of baptism. You made us your children by the action of your Son and the pouring out of your Holy Spirit upon this world. Lord God, come once again into our hearts. Come once again in your Holy Spirit to give us your divine life so that we can be truly your sons and daughters. We truly can be regenerated. We truly can be born again in you. Lord

Jesus, your mercies are new every morning. Come and meet us with your mercy now. Father in heaven, you send out your Holy Spirit through the name of your Son Jesus. Send out your Holy Spirit through the name of your Son Jesus. Send out your Holy Spirit now, once again, and renew the face of the earth. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Okay, it is day 166, reading paragraphs 12-10 to 12-22. Section 2.

The Seven Sacraments of the Church Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven. Baptism, Confirmation or Chrismation, the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of the Christian life. They give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian's life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life. Following this analogy, the first chapter will expound the three sacraments of Christian initiation. The second, the sacraments of healing, and the third, the sacraments at the service of communion and the mission of the faithful. This order, while not the only one possible, does allow one to see that the sacraments

form an organic whole in which each particular sacrament has its own vital place. In this organic whole, the Eucharist occupies a unique place as the Sacrament of Sacraments. All the other sacraments are ordered to it as to their end. Chapter 1. The Sacraments of Christian Initiation. The sacraments of Christian Initiation, Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist, lay the foundations of every Christian life. The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life. The faithful are born anew by Bapt, strengthened by the sacrament of confirmation, and receive

in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. By means of these sacraments of Christian initiation, they thus receive in increasing measure the treasures of the Divine Life and advance toward the perfection of charity. Article 1. The Sacrament of Baptism. Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, Vitae Spiritualis Iaenua, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God.

We become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church, and made sharers in her mission. Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water and in the Word. What is this sacrament called? This sacrament is called baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out. To baptize, Greek, baptizane, means to plunge or immerse. The plunge into the water symbolizes the catechumens burial into Christ's death, from which he rises up by resurrection with Him as a new creature. This sacrament is also called the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit, for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without

which no one can enter the Kingdom of God. This bath is called enlightenment because those who receive this catechetical instruction are enlightened in their understanding. Having received in baptism the Word, the true light that enlightens every man, the person baptized has been enlightened. He becomes a son of light. Indeed, he becomes light himself. As St. Gregory of Nazanzus said, baptism is God's most beautiful and magnificent gift. We call it gift, grace, anointing, enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal, and most precious gift.

It is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own. Grace since it is given even to the guilty. Baptism because sin is buried in the water. Anointing for it is priestly and royal as are those who are anointed. Enlightenment because it radiates light. Clothing since it veils our shame. Bath because it washes and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God's Lordship. Baptism in the Economy of Salvation. Prefigurations of Baptism in the Old Covenant. In the Liturgy of the Easter Vigil, during the blessing of the baptismal water, the Church solemnly commemorates the great events in salvation history that already prefigured

the mystery of baptism. She prays, O God, who by invisible power accomplish a wondrous effect through sacramental signs, and who in many ways have prepared water, your creation, to show forth the grace of baptism. Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and wonderful a creature, has been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred scripture sees it as overshadowed by the Spirit of God. The Church further prays, O God, whose Spirit in the first moments of the world's creation hovered over the waters,

so that the very substance of water would even then take to itself the power to sanctify. The Church has seen in Noah's Ark a prefiguring of salvation by baptism, for by it a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. The Church continues to pray, O God, who by the outpouring of the flood foreshadowed regeneration, so that from the mystery of one and the same element of water would come an end to vice and a beginning of virtue. If water springing up from the earth symbolizes life, the water

of the sea is a symbol of death, and so can represent the mystery of the cross. By this symbolism, baptism signifies communion with Christ's death. But above all, the crossing of the Red Sea, literally the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, announces the liberation wrought by baptism. The Church continues to pray, O God, who caused the children of Abraham to pass dry shod through the Red Sea, so that the chosen people set free from slavery to Pharaoh would prefigure the people of the baptized. Finally, baptism is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan River by which the people of God received the gift of the land promised to Abraham's descendants, an image of eternal life.

The promise of this blessed inheritance is fulfilled in the New Covenant. Alright, there we have it. Paragraph 1210 to 1222. The beginnings of this new section, this new chapter, everything's new. It is all about baptism. Well, actually, it's all about the introduction to the sacraments and the introduction to the sacraments of initiation, which is remarkable. I think that's beautiful. In paragraph 1210, the church highlights the fact that there are seven sacraments. Well, I don't know if that's obvious, but

that's what we got going on. And there are kind of three kinds of sacraments, right? There's the sacraments of initiation? There's the sacraments of initiation There are the sacraments of healing and there's a sacraments of mission or service, right? So the sacraments of initiation baptism confirmation Holy Eucharist the sacraments of healing are Penance or reconciliation and the anointing of the sick and the sacraments of mission sacraments of vocation sacraments of service are Holy orders and holy matrimony and so Of course above all above all these sacraments are is one that we're going to talk about many many times in the upcoming Days weeks months and that is the sacrament of the Eucharist

But today we're launching into the first of the sacraments of initiation as you heard It's all about baptism these sacraments initiation are the foundations of every Christian life. And this is remarkable. They're the foundation of every Christian life. And we know this, right? Because baptism is what brings us into relationship with God, makes us into God's very children. He adopts us through baptism. We're regenerated. We're forgiven of our sins. We're brought into the family of God. And then, of course, in the Eucharist, we're strengthened. We're given the very life of Jesus Christ, the very body, blood, soul, divinity in confirmation that further outpouring of the Holy Spirit that Jesus poured out on the apostles at Pentecost. We're gonna talk all about those things. We recognize though, this is the foundation,

the foundation of the Christian life. In fact, paragraph 12, 12 is, it's beautiful. It says this, the sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ There's a certain likeness to the origin development and nourishment nourishing of natural life, right? Of course, but that's what's happening when we're baptized. We are allowed to share in the very divine nature of God himself We're gonna talk about that more and more fully as the days go on today Of course, we have the introduction to the sacrament of baptism. A bunch of different names. I like the paragraph 12.14 to 12.16, just kind of like here's three terms that talk about the names of baptism, which are basically baptism, the washing of regeneration, the

renewal by the Holy Spirit, and enlightenment. Great, because all those things happen, right? Baptism means to plunge, it means to immerse means to wash and so Originally you would actually be fully submerged In fact, that's a lot of a way in which many many Christians many me Catholics are continued to be baptized The church at one point had to figure out a formula It's like what if there's not enough water or what's a simple a simpler way of doing this And so now we use water and you can even pour water on someone's head in order to

effect the sacrament of baptism but originally it meant to plunge meant to immerse and that is a really full image right that's in fact the fullest image of what is happening in baptism because we're dying in christ and we're brought to life in christ again and sacrament of the washing of regeneration and renewal by the holy spirit why because it brings about a new birth. It makes us into a new creature. And then 1216, it's called enlightenment. Because remember, all the sacraments are accompanied by the Word of God proclaimed. And so the Word of God is the Word that enlightens every person. And so the person baptized has been enlightened. They are now a son of light or daughter of light indeed In fact as st. Justin martyr said we become light himself, which is pretty remarkable. I love this. There's just beautiful beautiful though

Saying I guess maybe preaching of st. Gregory of Nazianzus all those different words. He says, you know gift grace anointing Enlightenment garment of immortality bath bath of rebirth, seal and most precious gift. If you have the chance to go back and just reread why he says those things, like, you know, he said, yeah, I love it. Gift because it's conferred on those who bring nothing of their own, which is completely true. And that's one of the reasons we know we can baptize infants. Why? Because they bring nothing on their own. It's complete complete grace He goes on to say grace since it is given even to the guilty It's just I love the way in which st. Gregory of Nazianzus says Why do we call it gift grace anointing enlightenment?

Garment of immortality Bathory birth seal and most precious gift and he goes on explains exactly why which is just so beautiful So beautiful, but you know kind of like how we have talked about, remember how way, way back when, in like the maybe even single digits of this Catechism in the Year, we talked about how God reveals himself in nature. And then he slowly begins, continues to reveal himself in the Old Covenant

and reveals himself to Abraham and to Moses and the people of God. Well, it's remarkable because here we have baptism in the economy of salvation, meaning, in paragraph 12, 17 to the end here, that here's God slowly revealing all of the ways from the very beginning that he used water in powerful ways. That you have this incredible, I love how it says, so water is so humble and wonderful a creature.

I've literally never thought of water as a creature, although it makes sense. It is a creation of God, therefore it is a creature. Okay, makes sense. God is the creator, he created water, water is a creature. Boom, bam, there it is. But this is so beautiful because here is God, in the many ways you prepared water your creation to show

forth the grace of baptism. Why? Because water is the thing that gives life and also at the same time it highlights in paragraph 1221 and 1220 the water is also a symbol of death. So it's in a spring that's a symbol of life in an oasis that's a symbol of life but the sea especially for the Mediterranean people, the sea, maybe anyone living on the coast. I mean, in fact, for Moana, that's for sure. For her people, the sea was a sign of death. The sea is where you go out and you die.

And so here's this combining of the imagery of water as a source of life and water as a source of death. And how does that come together? It comes together in Jesus. Because we've been baptized into Christ's death. And in that baptism, we're given his life. And I thought, if that's not, breaks your heart. One of those, like it just opens up and pierces the depths of our souls.

Again, that recognition that water has been used in so many ways, prefigured in so many ways in the Old Covenant and in life all around us. But lastly, we have the recognition that God uses water in the saving of people of God, right? He saves the people of Noah and his family through the ark, through the water. Above all, in the crossing of the Red Sea, he not only frees Israel from slavery, he gives them new life as they wander into the wilderness and ultimately, ultimately they cross the Jordan River and enter the promised land.

And so all of these ways are foreshadowing, right? They're all hints at the ways in which God is going to use water and he fulfills that, right, in baptism. Noah's Ark, here's the church that brings that person through the chaos of life to life. Here is the Red Sea, the Lord God who leads his people through water. It leads them from slavery and death to liberation and life. And then, of course, as they cross the Jordan River, it leads them from wandering in the wilderness to the promised land, which is that symbol

and sign of eternal life, that symbol and sign of heaven. And that's what baptism does for us. So now tomorrow we're going to find out about how Christ's baptism, it fulfills all of the other, all of the hints, all of the foreshadowings, all of the ways in which all the types, right, in the Old Covenant, Christ's baptism fulfills all of it. And now we have baptism in the church. Now what you and I either have experienced or get to experience because of God's grace. And it's worth praising the Lord

for the fact that he has sent out his Holy Spirit so you and I can participate in this incredible life that Jesus Christ has won for us. And so, I don't know, just as we launch into these next few days, oh man, there are gonna be some technical things, but it's also gonna be just some really, really beautiful ways in which we just recognize here is the gift.

It might even be the case like this, where here you are baptized. Maybe you have received all of the sacraments that you could possibly receive, but you haven't realized the gift you've been given. Well, in the next few days, next few weeks, man, I'm gonna tell you, it's gonna be incredible because you will realize these are all of the gifts

that God has bestowed. He's just poured them out upon you, upon me, and we just get to give God thanks. So in order for our hearts to be open, in order for our hearts to be like wide open, our minds to be wide open, I gotta let you know, I'm praying for you, I'm praying for that to happen. Please pray for me.

My name's Fr. Mike, I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.