sacraments (baptism & confirmation)

SACRAMENTS

Josephine R Tarroza Religious Studies Department, School of

Liberal ArtsAteneo de Zamboanga University

Definition:• A visible sign of invisible

grace. (St. Augustine)• It is a visible reality which

makes the invisible reality of God real and present to us.

• It is sensible sign instituted by Christ to give grace.

• A saving symbolic act or visible sign, arising from the ministry of Christ and continued in, by and for the Church, which, when received in faith, fashions us into the likeness to Christ in his Paschal Mystery, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

OLD DEFINITION *NEW DEFINITION1

Sensible Signs*Saving Symbolic Acts2Instituted by Christ*Arising from the ministry of ChristContinued in, by and for the ChurchForm us in the likeness to Christ in His Paschal Mystery3To give grace*Through the Holy Spirit

• •

SAVING SYMBOLIC ACTS

SIGNS It is a reality which points to another reality or suggests the existence of another reality, but there is no connection between the sign and what it points to.

SYMBOLS It is a reality which points to another reality and has the power to make the reality present and active without being identical to it.

• Some signs merely point to something else as INDICATORS, but others are super charged with a variety of meanings that we “discover” rather than create—they manifest, communicate, effect us or make real which we call as symbols.

• Not all signs are symbols but all symbols are signs

• All interpersonal human life depends on symbols

SIGNS SYMBOLS

Speaks to the head Speaks to the heart

Supplies information Provide inspiration

No hidden power Has hidden power

No historical content Communicate something of the past, present and future

ARISING FROM THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST

• Not all sacraments were directly “instituted by Christ” but rather these sacraments were extracted from the ministry of Christ.

• Jesus “instituted” the sacraments:By being the sacrament of his Father

through his whole life of word and actionHaving the Church as his basic sacrament.

SEVEN SACRAMENTS(Ritual Sacraments)

CHURCH (Fundamental Sacrament)

JESUS (Primordial Sacrament)

GOD

SEVEN RITUAL SACRAMENTS

Sacrament of Initiation

Baptism ConfirmationHoly

Eucharist

Sacrament of Healing

RECONCILIATION ANNOINTING OF THE SICK

Sacrament of Vocation

HOLY ORDERS MATRIMONY

Sacraments can only be received ONCE.

•Baptism •Confirmation •Holy Orders

Sacraments can be received MANY times.

• Holy Eucharist• Reconciliation • Anointing of the Sick

Matrimony can be received more than once only if the husband/wife is already dead.

BAPTISM

NATURE/DEFINITION• The word BAPTISM comes from the Greek

word “BAPTIZEIN” which means “to submerge, to immerse, to plunge or to dip”

• In English, it has come to mean “purify or cleanse” and it is usually associated with water since water is used as purifying agent

• Bath of enlightenment, because those who receive baptism becomes “son of light”

• Baptism is the door to life and to other sacraments

• Gateway to life in the spirit and to the kingdom of God

• By nature, a spiritual birth accomplished by the power of God through a sensible sign, water by which the soul receives new life in spirit

• Baltimore Catechism defines BAPTISM as the sacrament that gives our souls the new life of sanctifying grace by which we become children of God and heirs of Heaven

It is the sacrament of SPIRITUAL REGENERATION which is conferred by the application of water while consecrating the person to the Divine Trinity

HISTORY

• In the Old Testament, circumcision became a sign of one’s membership into the Chosen people of God

• Circumcision is a form of baptism that is related to the present CHRISTIAN INITIATION

• Purification rituals were commonplace in the Jewish religion but the immediate ancestor of Christian baptism is no doubt found in the baptismal rite practice by John at the river Jordan. John may have derived his baptism from the practice of Jewish proselyte baptism (a convert to Judaism) or from the Qumran community (Dead Sea Scrolls) and combined it with prophetic idea of the need for an eschatological cleansing before the End.

• In the New Testament, John’s baptism was observed. Christian baptism after Pentecost is much in common with John’s baptism. It is performed with water and involves repentance

For the Early Christians, baptism is an important decision to make for the reason that one must be ready to die for Christ upon entering it. To be a candidate (a catechumen) for Baptism, one must undergo THREE YEARS of catechetical instruction. The candidates are accepted into the community on HOLY SATURDAY VIGIL. Consequently, Baptism is being administered (three-fold immersion). Long ago, the sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist were part of the Baptismal Rites but as Christians grew bigger they were separated.

• During the Fourth century, the Church started baptizing babies. Instead of receiving catechetical instructions the child is welcomed in the community and the parents take the role of forming the child in faith.

• Incorporation into the Church (being member, part of the Church)

FORMULA:

(NAME of the person being baptized) I baptize you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...

SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES

• John 3: 5 says: Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto you, unless a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God

• Matthew 28: 19 says: Go, make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son of the Holy Spirit...

KINDS OF BAPTISM

• Baptism of WATER- the person to be baptized is being administered with water whether through immersion, sprinkling or pouring

FORMS OF BAPTISM

• Infant Baptism --- it is being administered to little children or infants through infusion by the faith

• Children shouldn’t be deprived of becoming a member of Christian community. As the origin and growth of personal life of every child begins immediately after birth, likewise does the Christian life of faith in Christ.

• Mark 10:14 states “let the little children come to me and so do not stop them because the kingdom of God belongs to such...”

• Adult Baptism – it is being administered to adult person though Immersion or Infusion. It is usually being practiced by the Christian of other denominations (Protestants)

• Baptism of Desire – the desire of the person to be baptized as Christian who lives life morally on earth but never received it due to sudden death

• Baptism of Blood- signifies martyrdom of an unbaptized person, that is, the patient bearing of a violent death or of an assault of its nature leads to death, by the reason of one’s confession of the Christian faith or one’s practice of Christian virtue.

THREE WAYS OF UNDERGOING BAPTISM

• IMMERSION- individual is submerged completely for few seconds in a pool of water

• ASPERSION- the water is being sprinkled upon individual’s body

• INFUSION- the water is poured into the individual’s forehead

EFFECTS of BAPTISM• Enters a new life in Christ• Cleansing of Original Sin• The Baptized is united into the Church---

the baptized people of Christ• Confers sanctifying grace• Confers a sharing in Christ’s very mission

(priestly, prophetic and kingly)

SYMBOLS

• Light of Candle- symbolizes that Christ has enlightened the neophyte as “Christ the Light”

• White Garment- symbolizes that purity (cleansing of sins and the person has “risen with Christ”

• Holy Oil/ Chrism- symbolizes the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized who has become a Christian and the idea of being anointed by God.

• Holy Water- symbolizes the cleansing from sin

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE OF WATER

• In Genesis 1 & 2 “God’s spirit hovering over the raging waters”—water as symbol of LIFE and DESTRUCTION

• Flood waters of Noah --- Noah’s family was saved through water, so Christians are saved through baptism---water as symbol of saving good and faithful followers of God

• Exodus deliverance of Israelites from Egypt through the waters of the Red Sea---water as symbol of freedom from slavery

• God’s promise to Ezekiel (Ez 36:25-26) “to sprinkle water upon his people, to cleanse them from all their impurities and to give them a new heart and place a new spirit within them, taking away their strong hearts and replacing them with natural hearts” --- water as symbol of purification of heart and spirit.

• In John’s baptism, people were encouraged to turn away from their sins---water as symbol of repentance

EXTERNAL SIGNS OF BAPTISM

• MATTER – such as candles, water, white garments and chrism

• FORM- such as “I baptize you in the name...”

• MINISTER – Bishop, Priests, Deacons ---ordinaryAnybody (emergency) ----extraordinary

RITES of BAPTISM

• Reception of the Candidate• Celebration of the word---A

passage is read from the Bible

• Celebration of the Sacraments–Blessing over the Baptismal water–Renunciation of Sin (exorcism) and

profession of faith (Creed)–Baptism proper–Anointing with Chrism–Clothing with white garment –Lighting of the Candles

CONFIRMATION

NATURE/DEFINITION• Confirmation is the sacrament in which,

by the imposition of hands, unction and prayer, a baptized person is filled with the Holy ghost/Spirit for the inner strengthening of the supernatural life and for the courageous outward confession of faith

• Is conferred by anointing with HOLY CHRISM while imposing the hands unto the head of the candidate

• VATICAN II described Confirmation in terms of its two essential characteristics: closer union with the Church and strengthening and empowerment by the Holy Spirit to actively spread the faith.

• In Confirmation “renewal of Baptismal promises should fittingly precede its reception.”

• “Through centuries, because of the increasing number and size of the dioceses, parishes and infants baptism made it a practical impossibility to confirm all, the anointing and laying on of hands were separated from water baptism...”

• “In the East, it is called CHRISMATION meaning anointing with Chrism”

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT

• In the Old Testament, anointing signified healing, purification, strengthening and empowerment. Aaron was anointed HIGH PRIEST (Lev 8:12). Samuel anointed Saul and David as King (1 Sam 10:1;16:13) and Isaiah was anointed prophet (Is 61:1)

Ezekiel 36: 25-28 • Cleansing from impurities• A new heart i will give you• “Place my spirit within you”Isaiah 11: 1-3• Talks about portrait of Messiah• The gifts of the Spirit• The sacrament for giving of the Holy

Spirit

“The Prophets of the Old Testament having already foretold the outpouring of the SPIRIT OF GOD over the whole of humanity as a characteristic of the of the messianic era (Joel 2, 28; Isaiah 44:3-5)”

“ I will pour out water upon the thirsty ground and streams upon the dry land; I will pour out my spirit upon your offspring and my blessing upon your descendants. They shall spring up amid the verdure like poplers beside the flowing water. One shall say I am the Lord” ~Isaiah 44:3-5

• In the New Testament, Jesus promised His apostles:

“ Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: Rivers of living water will flow from within him. He said this in reference to the spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive.”

“Behold I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are subdued by the power from on high” ~Lk 24:49

• Jesus promised for the coming of the advocate

• “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together and suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind and it filled the entire house in which...” ~ACTS 2:1-4

• It has its origin in JESUS CHRIST. The bestowal of the Holy Spirit referred to in HEBREWS 6:2 . The phrase “be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit” here emphasized greater union, interior, deeper union with Christ.

HISTORY/ SYMBOLS

Laying on of hands The book of Acts 8:14-17;19:1-6 vividly attest the invocation of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands by which it completes the grace of baptism. It is for this reason that laying on of hands is included in the instructions outlined in the Letter to the Hebrews 6:2. Both the “Apostolic tradition” of Hippolytus and the treatise “De Baptismo” of Tertullian, as the earliest accounts to attest the celebration of confirmation, rightly recognized the imposition of hands, which in a certain way perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in the Church.

Anointing with Chrism Anointing in Biblical and other ancient

symbolism is rich in meaning: oil is a sign of abundance and joy; it cleanses (anointing before and after bath) and limbers (anointing of athletes and wrestlers); oil is also a sign of healing, soothing to wounds and bruises (CCC # 1293)

Anointing with oil is meaningful in sacramental life. By Confirmation, Christians that is, those who are anointed, share more completely in the mission of Christ and the fullness of the Spirit. By this anointing, the confirmand receives the “mark,” seal of the Holy Spirit (CCC# 1294). Thus, “anointing with chrism” and its accompanying words express clearly the effects of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 1:21-22), that marks our total belonging to Christ.

FORMULA: Name of the Confirmant be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit

EFFECTS (CCC #1302)

• Free outpouring of the Holy Spirit• Imprints on the soul an indelible mark• “character’ perfects the common priesthood• Perfects the baptismal grace• 2Corinthian 2:15-16 “For we are the aroma of

Christ for the Lord” (AROMA=life & death) (Fragrance of Christ- Christian spreading of goodness)

“Confirmation therefore is to complete, to bring to finality, to strengthen, deepen a reality shared in Baptism. Confirmation is necessary for completion of baptismal grace since it makes us perfectly bound to the Church and enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed”

RITE OF CONFIRMATION

1. Opening Prayer2. Liturgy of the Word3. Presentation of the Candidates4. Homily or Address5. Renewal of Baptismal Promises

6. Imposition of Hands7. Anointing8. General Intercessions9. Liturgy of the Eucharist10. Presentation of Gifts11. Prayer over the Gifts12. Prayer after Communion13. Blessing/Dismissal