Christ said: "Unless
a man be born again of water and
the spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." John
3, 5
Baptism is the sacrament that gives our souls the new life of sanctifying grace by which we become children of God and heirs of heaven. (BC 315)
Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua),1 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 in the word.2 (CCC 1213)
1 Cf. Council Of Florence: DS 1314: vitae
spiritualis ianua.
This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out: to baptize (Greek baptizein) means to “plunge” or “immerse”; the “plunge” into the water symbolizes the catechumen’s burial into Christ’s death, from which he rises up by resurrection with him, as “a new creature.”1 (CCC 1214)
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.”2 (CCC 1215)
“This bath is called enlightenment, because
those who receive this [catechetical] instruction are enlightened in their
understanding. ..”3 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:4
1 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15; Cf. Rom
6:34; Col 2:12. |