Friday, November 15, 2013

Catechism L5-05 Becoming Child of God


 Prayer Before Studying
Incomprehensible Creator, the true Fountain of light and only Author of all knowledge: vouchsafe, we beseech Thee, to enlighten our understandings, and to remove from us all darkness of sin and ignorance. Thou, who makest eloquent the tongues of those that want utterance, direct our tongues, and pour on our lips the grace of Thy blessing. Give us a diligent and obedient spirit, quickness of apprehension, capacity of retaining, and the powerful assistance of Thy holy grace; that what we hear or learn we may apply to Thy honor and the eternal salvation of our own souls.

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Holy Spirit, giver of all good gifts, enter into my mind and heart. Give me the gift of knowledge, wisdom, understanding and the grace to use it wisely. Help me in all my endeavors. Give me perseverance and fortitude. Help my memory, that I may remember what I learn and recall it when necessary. Guide me in my studies. You who are the Way, the Truth, and the Life, let me not be deceived by false teaching. Our Lady of Good Studies, pray for me. Amen.



Renewal of Baptismal Promises
I, <state your complete name>, who through the tender mercy of the Eternal Father was privileged to be baptized "in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 19, 5) and thus to share in the dignity of his divine Sonship, wish now in the presence of this same loving Father and of his only-begotten Son to renew in all sincerity the promises I solemnly made at the time of my holy Baptism.
I, therefore, now do once again renounce Satan; I renounce all his works; I renounce all his allurements.
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born into this world and who suffered and died for my sins and rose again. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.
Having been buried with Christ unto death and raised up with him unto a new life, I promise to live no longer for myself or for that world which is the enemy of God but for him who died for me and rose again, serving God, my heavenly Father, faithfully and unto death in the holy Catholic Church.
Taught by our Savior's command and formed by the word of God, I now dare to say:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.


Something to Ponder (Review): 
• What was the origin of evil?

• What was the reason the devil is tempting us to sin or to rebel against God?

• What happened to Adam & Eve after they sinned?

• Could they still go to heaven?

• Did God still love them?

• How about the fallen angels do they have redemption?

• How do you determine a God’s Angel vs. Fallen Angel?

• How did Jesus Christ and his apostles drive out demons? 

Topic/Agenda:
  • Seven Sacrament: Baptism and Confirmation
  • Timeline and History of Baptism
  • Necessity of Baptism
  • Effects of Baptism and Confirmation
  • Other types of Baptism
  • Differences on Western and Eastern Rites
  • Things needed for the Baptism and Confirmation
  • Eligibility of Baptism and Confirmation
  • After Baptism & Confirmation, now what?


Word of God
John 3:1-7
3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]”  4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!




1.      Seven sacraments:
a.      Baptism – is the way out of the kingdom of death into the life, the gateway to the Church, and the beginning of a lasting communion with God. (CCC 1213-1216, 1276-1278)
b.      Confirmation – is the sacraments that completes Baptism; in it the gift of the Holy Spirit is bestowed upon us. Anyone who freely decides to live a life as God’s child and asks God’s Spirit under the signs of the imposition of hands and anointing with Chrism receives the strength to witness to God’s love and might in word and deed. He is now full-fledge, responsible member of the Catholic Church. (CCC 1285-1314)
c.      Holy Communion
d.      Confession (also known as Penance or Reconciliation)
e.      Marriage (also known as Matrimony)
f.       Holy Order (also known as Ordination)
g.     Anointing of the Sick (also known as Extreme Unction or Last Rites) 
2.      Timeline & History of Baptism --  how can be acquired and who started it.


Baptism of Repentance -- 11 “I baptize you with[b] water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12) 
Baptism of Jesus -- 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved,[d] with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17)

Receiving of the Holy Spirit -- 19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. (John 20:19-22)
Baptism of Holy Spirit -- 2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. (Acts 2:1-4)





1.      Necessity of Baptism:
a.      Christ Himself ordered His disciples to preach the Gospel to all nations and to baptize those who accept the message of the Gospel. In His encounter with Nicodemus (John 3:1-21), Christ made it clear that baptism was necessary for salvation: "Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." For Catholics, the sacrament is not a mere formality; it is the very mark of a Christian, because it brings us into new life in Christ.
b.      Christ has given us this Great Commission: 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)

2.      Primary Effects of Baptism (All Supernatural Graces):
a.      The removal of the guilt of both Original Sin (the sin imparted to all mankind by the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden) and personal sin (the sins that we have committed ourselves).
b.      The remission of all punishment that we owe because of sin, both temporal (in this world and in Purgatory) and eternal (the punishment that we would suffer in hell).
c.      The infusion of grace in the form of sanctifying grace (the life of God within us); the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit; and the three theological virtues.
d.      Becoming a part of Christ.
e.      Becoming a part of the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ on earth.
f.       Enabling participation in the sacraments, the priesthood of all believers, and the growth in grace.

3.      Primary Effects Confirmation (All Supernatural Graces):
a.      it roots us more deeply in the divine affiliation [as sons of God] which makes us cry, "Abba! Father!“
b.      it unites us more firmly to Christ;
c.      it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;
d.      it renders our bond with the Church more perfect;
e.      it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross. 
Primary Effects of Baptism & Confirmation (Summary)
4.      By Baptism:
a.      We are reborn as sons of God – adopted children of God.
b.      Original sin is washed away and we receive grace to go to heaven.
c.      Give us new life, the life of God.
d.      Baptism is a sacrament. A sacrament is a visible sign; Signifying the gift of God’s grace; given by Jesus Christ. A Christian rite.
e.      The door that give access to other sacraments.
f.       We become members of Christ; are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission.
g.     Baptism means to plunge or immerse.
                                                    i.     Also called “the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit”
                                                   ii.     Also called “enlightenment”.
h.      Baptism is a bath that purifies, justifies and sanctifies.
i.       All sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin.
j.       Person baptized is configured to Christ. Seals the Christian with indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark.
k.      Baptism cannot be repeated. 

5.      By Confirmation:
a.      Practice of East vs. West Catholicism
b.      The gift of Holy Spirit
c.      This sacrament both confirms baptism and strengthens baptismal grace.

6.      2 Types of Baptism besides Water Baptism
a.    The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. But remember “God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments”. (CCC 1257)
b.      Baptism of Desire -- applies both to those who, while wishing to be baptized, die before receiving the sacrament and "Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do His will as they know it through the dictates of conscience" (Constitution on the Church, Second Vatican Council). (CCC 1259)
c.      Baptism of Blood -- is similar to the baptism of desire. It refers to the martyrdom of those believers who were killed for the faith before they had a chance to be baptized. This was a common occurrence in the early centuries of the Church, but also in later times in missionary lands. The baptism of blood has the same effects as the baptism of water. (CCC 1258)
d.      As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. (CCC 1261)

7.      Prayer of Exorcism and Anointing Before Baptism:
Almighty and ever-living God, you sent your only Son into the world to cast out the power of Satan, spirit of evil, to rescue man from the kingdom of darkness, and bring him into the splendour of your kingdom of light. We pray for this child: set him/her free from original sin, make him/her a temple of your glory, and send your Holy Spirit to dwell with him/her. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

8.      Difference of Western vs. Eastern Rites


Confirmation in the West:
Confirmation in the East:
The Church in the West came up with a different solution—the separation in time of the Sacrament of Confirmation from the Sacrament of Baptism. This allowed infants to be baptized soon after birth, while the bishop could confirm many Christians at the same time, even years after baptism. Eventually, the current custom of performing Confirmation several years after First Communion developed, but the Church continues to the stress the original order of the sacraments, and Pope Benedict XVI, in his apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, has suggested that the original order should be restored.
In the Eastern Catholic (and Eastern Orthodox) Churches, the three sacraments of initiation are administered at the same time to infants. Children are baptized, confirmed (or "chrismated"), and receive Communion (in the form of the Sacred Blood, the consecrated wine), all in the same ceremony, and always in that order. Since the timely reception of Baptism is very important, and it would be very hard for a bishop to administer every baptism, the bishop's presence, in the Eastern Churches, is signified by the use of chrism consecrated by the bishop. The priest, however, performs the confirmation.



1.      Things Needed for Baptism  -- Easter candles, stole, holy water, holy salt, holy oil (Catechumen), & Roman Ritual for Baptism. White garment of the person who will be baptized.

2.      Things Needed for Confirmation  -- Easter candles, stole, holy Oil (Chrism), Laying of Hands & Roman Ritual for Confirmation.

3.      Eligibility of Baptism
a.      Who can receive baptism? -- Every person not yet baptized and only such person is able to be baptized.
b.      Who can baptize? -- Bishops, priests and in Latin Church also the deacon. Anyone can baptize a person for emergency purposes.
c.      Requirements before baptism – a person should repent and be taught the basics of salvation (Latin church catechumen & catechesis). Faith on the Gospel.
                                                    i.     Catechumen – a convert to Christianity receiving training in doctrine & discipline before baptism.
                                                   ii.     Catechesis – Bible + Tradition (Apostolic & Early church fathers)
d.      If repentance, knowledge about salvation and Faith in the Gospel are required how can an infant or a small child have these?  --- Duty of Parents and specially the Sponsors.

4.      Eligibility of Confirmation
e.      Even in the West, priests can be authorized by their bishops to perform confirmations, and adult converts are routinely baptized and confirmed by priests. All those who have been baptized are eligible to be confirmed, and, while the Western Church suggests receiving the sacrament after reaching the "age of reason" (around seven years old), it can be received at any time. (A child in danger of death should receive Confirmation.)
    1. A confirmand must be in a state of grace. If the sacrament is not received immediately after Baptism, the confirmand should participate in the Sacrament of Confession before Confirmation.


After Baptism Now What?
  1. Enjoy the free Gift of Salvation and Grace -- Jesus is the greatest giver ever and has given you a new life (John 10:10). You have a God who has made you into a new creature and has given you a new heart (2 Cor. 5:17). Continue to live as God's children. Make yourself perfect.
  2. Get Into the Bible -- study more about God's Revelation and Truths. Don't be ignorant to the truth.
  3. Get Into the Community -- The church is a group of people who belong to Jesus and are a family. As a Christian, you are made to be in relationships with others. It is in these relationships that you will grow in your love for God and for people (Prov. 27:17). Being a disciple of Jesus is not an individual thing. Meaningful relationships with other Christians will massively shape you and help you grow as a disciple of Jesus.
  4. Join the Mission -- Your life is not an accident or purposeless. Jesus has now called you to be part of the incredible mission he has given us of making disciples (Matt. 28:16–20). All of us have a part in this and every part is important and valuable (1 Cor. 12:12). Be a Spiritual Knight or Warrior.


Remain under the State of Grace


 Prayer for the Help of the Holy Spirit
O God, I thank you for this day and the lessons that we have learned today.  May You send forth your Holy Spirit and stay forever into my heart that I may perceive and understand You more, into my mind that I may remember, and into my soul that I may meditate.  Inspire me to speak and behave with patience, piety, holiness, tenderness and mercy. Teach, guide and direct my thoughts and senses from beginning to end. By Your grace, we may live and preach on the Words that You spoke to us today. May your grace ever help and correct me, and may I be strengthened now with love and wisdom from on high, for the sake of your infinite mercy. Amen.



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