Baptism

"For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized in Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." - Galatians 3:26-27

“Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), 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.’

 

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.’

 

This sacrament is 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.'”- (CCC 1213-1215)