We are trying not so much to make God listen to us as to make ourselves listen to Him; we are trying not to persuade God to do what we want, but to find out what he wants us to do. It so often happens that in prayer we are really saying, “Thy will be changed,” when we ought to be saying, “Thy will be done.” The first object of prayer is not so much to speak to God as to listen to Him.
William Barclay

Baptism

Baptism

BAPTISM

BASIC R.C. BELIEF “Holy Baptism possesses first place among the Sacraments, because it is the door of spiritual life, for by it we become members of Christ, and of the Body of the Church.” Being born again (John 3) is Baptism (Council of Trent). Baptism of desire is when actual Baptism is impossible (as the thief on

the Cross); baptism of blood (martyrdom before baptism) is also recognized as valid.

Baptism is a Sacrament that indelibly marks the soul; therefore it can’t be repeated. Theologians commonly teach that this character remains on the soul for all eternity for the greater humiliation of those who are lost (THE SACRAMENTS, Connell, page 28).

Scriptures used to “prove” baptism are Matthew 3:15; Mark 16:16; John 3:3,5,7; Acts 2:38, 8:12,36, 9:18, 10:47, 16:15,33, 19:5; Romans 6:3,4; I Corinthians 1:14,17, 10:2, 12:13; Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 4:5; Colossians 2:12; Titus 3:5; I Peter 3:21.

POST VATICAN II “By the Sacrament of Baptism into the crucified and risen Christ man is reborn to a sharing of the divine life” (Vatican II).

“Jesus explicitly asserted the necessity of Baptism (LUMEN GENTIUM, 11/21/64).

There has been talk, in modern Roman Catholic circles, of administering conditional Baptism, which would later be voluntarily confirmed. There has never been papal blessing of this idea even though children, at Confirmation, do agree to their baptismal vows.

From CATHOLIC ANSWERS newsletter, December, 1989. “The code of canon law explains that clean, true and natural water is necessary for baptism (canon 849). Liquids can be assessed in three categories: those that are certainly valid, those that are doubtfully valid, and those that are certainly invalid.

“Certainly valid liquids include: water as found in rivers, oceans, lakes, hot springs, melted ice or snow, mineral water, dew, slightly muddy water (as long as the water predominates), and slightly brackish water. Doubtfully valid liquids are those that are a mixture of water and some other substance, such as beer, soda, light tea, thin soup or broth, and artificially scented water such as rose water. The last category is of liquids which are certainly invalid. It includes: oil, urine, grease, phlegm, shoe polish, and milk. The rule of thumb is that, in emergency situations, you should always try to baptize with certainly valid liquids, beginning, of course, with plain, clean water. If plain water isn’t available, then baptize with a doubtfully valid liquid, using the formula, `If this water is valid, I baptize you in the name of the Father…’ If the danger of death passes, the person should later be conditionally baptized with certainly valid water. Never attempt to baptize anyone with a certainly invalid liquid.”

From the 1989 CATHOLIC ALMANAC. “Baptism is the sacrament of spiritual regeneration by which a person is incorporated in Christ and made a member of his Mystical Body, given grace, and cleansed from original sin. Actual sins and the punishment due for them are remitted also if the person baptized was guilty of such sins. The theological virtues of faith, hope and charity are given with grace. The sacrament confers a character on the soul and can be received only once.” (page 223)

Nathaniel Ryan Morreala was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Morreala of Marlboro, Mass. They were supporters of a proposed abortion clinic. Their pastor refused to perform the baptism because of their public support of birth control and abortion advocate William Baird.

Jesuit priest Joseph O’Rourke defied orders from his superiors and baptized 3 month old Nathaniel on the steps of the church his parents attend.

Boston archdiocese officials have said the baptism was valid but not licit because O’Rourke did not have his superior’s permission and because the Morrealas did not renounce their belief in a woman’s right to abortion.

O’Rourke said, “The worst thing to come out of all of this is that the public can see the chaos in the Catholic community and the blindness about what the true facts are in the area of reproduction. O’Rourke is a member of the Board of Directors of the New York-based organization called CATHOLICS FOR FREE CHOICE.

Comment by Rev. Connell Maguire, Groton, CT, “Consistent with Catholic tradition that baptism is necessary for Heaven, the failings of the parents are insufficient cause to justify denial of the sacrament to infants. Authentic Catholic tradition indicates that the celebration of the Sacrament is an occasion to exhort rather that coerce the parents.”

Despite the opposition of many members of the Jesuit community and other friends, Jesuit priest O’Rourke, who baptized the baby, was dismissed from the Jesuit order.

Comment by Rev. James O’Shaughnessy, Notre Dame. “This entire affair is a sad commentary on the present state of the Church as a community of believers. Baptism is not to be done just by anyone at any time under any circumstances. This act of dying and rising, this rebirth, must also find its full expression in the ritual acts of initiation. An act of protest in a circus atmososphere on a church steps hardly qualifies. Now we attack the bastion of authoritarianism with clubs made of `instant sacraments.'”

Cartoon: priest to baby over baptismal font, “And dost thou renounce abortion?”

Jesuit theologian Joseph Powers of California’s Alma College would postpone the ceremony until the age of ten or twelve. “The whole meaning of baptism,” he states, “is not to make a Christian out of a child but to incorporate the individual, at some time in life, into the community of the church.”

Some modern theologians have suggested: “When through excusable ignorance one does not know the necessity of baptism but desires to do the will of God, Baptism of desire can be applied. This is being applied to some unbaptized babies who would otherwise have been in limbo; since they would have gladly been baptized had they grown to adulthood the baptism of desire is already applied.

From THE SACRAMENTS, Rev. Connell, C.SS.R., page 3, “For the spiritual rebirth of the soul to the life of grace, He prescribed the external washing of the body with water – Baptism – which all must receive in order to enter the Kingdom of heaven.

CHRISTIAN COMMENT John 1:13 proves that being born again is not baptism. He says the New Birth is not of the will of man, and baptism cannot be performed without the operation of the will of the priest or minister.

We can compare Titus 3:5 with Matthew 3:15; the latter tells us Baptism is a work of righteousness, and the former says we are not saved by works of righteousness.

We can compare biblical regeneration with baptismal regeneration. No change takes place with the latter, but when one is scripturally regenerated, he is a new creature in Christ.

No guarantee is given with baptismal regeneration, but according to I Peter 1:3,4 a Christian is begotten again to a lively hope . . . to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.

The difference is that baptismal regeneration is finite; biblical regeneration is infinite.