Our Lady of Carter Lake Catholic Church at 3501 N. 9th Street, Carter Lake, IA 51510 US - Sacrament of Baptism

We dip our fingers in holy water and make the sign of the cross as we enter Church, a reminder of our baptism. What did the sacrament of Baptism do to us and for us? Mark’s Gospel gives us some intriguing hints. He opens with the words: “The Beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” He then describes the baptism of Jesus. Commentators pounce on that phrase: “The Beginning”. Mark, they say, draws a parallel between the Genesis account of creation and the Baptism of Jesus. Genesis says: “In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The players in the act of creation are God’s Word, God’s Spirit and Water. (Genesis 1:2). The same three are present at the Baptism of Jesus. He emerged from the water, the Spirit swept down on him and God spoke: “You are my beloved Son. In you I take the greatest delight.” Early Christians had little trouble seeing total immersion in water as a sign of death and emergence from it as symbol of a new creation, a new birth. Birth, however, is not simply a biological fact, it is our insertion into human history, a web of relationships scarred by selfishness, exploitation and hatred. This battered world was not what God intended it to be; therefore, he resolved on a new creation in Spirit, Water and Word. Note that the first Word that God spoke at the Baptism of Jesus was “You are my beloved Son.” This is also the first word that God addresses to all of us who are reborn in baptism: “You are my beloved.” As the water flows over us, God’s Spirit and God’s word join in a new act of creation. We are reborn as the sons and daughters of God. God shares his divine nature with us by bringing us into the most intimate union with his Son Jesus. Paul compared this bond to the link that exists between the head and members of the same body. John spoke of a vine pumping life into its branches. Both are vivid images of our life-giving connection to Christ. The Catechism says that the stages of our spiritual life resemble those of our natural life (n.1212). Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist lay the foundation for this new life; so they are called “sacraments of initiation”. We grow to maturity as children of God by fulfilling our baptismal vows and proclaiming “The Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

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