Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 194 - Part III.

YOUCAT Question n. 194 - Part III. What is Baptism?  

(Youcat answer - repeated) Baptism is the way out of the kingdom of death into life, the gateway to the church, and the beginning of a lasting communion with God.       

A deepening through CCC    

(CCC 1277) Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord's will, it is necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism. (CCC 1278) The essential rite of Baptism consists in immersing the candidate in water or pouring water on his head, while pronouncing the invocation of the Most Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.      

Reflecting and meditating    

(Youcat comment) Baptism is the foundational sacrament and the prerequisite for all other sacraments. It unites us with Jesus Christ, incorporates us into his redemptive death on the Cross, thereby freeing us from the power of Original Sin and all personal sins, and causes us to rise with him to a life without end. Since Baptism is a covenant with God, the individual must say Yes to it. In the baptism of children, the parents confess the Faith on behalf of the children.     

(CCC Comment)     

(CCC 1215) 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" (Titus 3:5; Jn 3:5).        

(The next question is: How is Baptism administered?)  

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 194 - Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 194 - Part II. What is Baptism?   

(Youcat answer - repeated) Baptism is the way out of the kingdom of death into life, the gateway to the church, and the beginning of a lasting communion with God.       

A deepening through CCC    

(CCC 1216 a) "This bath is called enlightenment, because those who receive this [catechetical] instruction are enlightened in their understanding…." (St. Justin, Apol. 1, 61, 12: PG 6, 421). 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 (Jn 1:9; 1 Thess 5:5; Heb 10:32; Eph 5:8):      

Reflecting and meditating     

(Youcat comment) Baptism is the foundational sacrament and the prerequisite for all other sacraments. It unites us with Jesus Christ, incorporates us into his redemptive death on the Cross, thereby freeing us from the power of Original Sin and all personal sins, and causes us to rise with him to a life without end. Since Baptism is a covenant with God, the individual must say Yes to it. In the baptism of children, the parents confess the Faith on behalf of the children.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1216 b) Baptism is God's most beautiful and magnificent gift....We call it gift, grace, anointing, enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal, and most precious gift. It is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own; grace since it is given even to the guilty; Baptism because sin is buried in the water; anointing for it is priestly and royal as are those who are anointed; enlightenment because it radiates light; clothing since it veils our shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God's Lordship (St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 40, 3-4: PG 36, 361C).         

(This question: What is Baptism? is continued)    

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 194 - Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 194 - Part I. What is Baptism?

(Youcat answer) Baptism is the way out of the kingdom of death into life, the gateway to the church, and the beginning of a lasting communion with God.         

A deepening through CCC    

(CCC 1213) Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua) (Cf. Council of Florence: DS 1314: 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" (Roman Catechism II, 2, 5; cf. Council of Florence: DS 1314; CIC, cann. 204 § 1; 849; CCEO, can. 675 § 1).     

Reflecting and meditating     

(Youcat comment) Baptism is the foundational sacrament and the prerequisite for all other sacraments. It unites us with Jesus Christ, incorporates us into his redemptive death on the Cross, thereby freeing us from the power of Original Sin and all personal sins, and causes us to rise with him to a life without end. Since Baptism is a covenant with God, the individual must say Yes to it. In the baptism of children, the parents confess the Faith on behalf of the children.       

(CCC Comment)    

(CCC 1214) 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" (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15; Cf. Rom 6:34; Col 2:12).     

(This question: What is Baptism? is continued)    

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 193.

YOUCAT Question n. 193 - Is there some inner logic that unites the sacraments with each other?  

(Youcat answer) All sacraments are an encounter with Christ, who is himself the original sacrament. There are sacraments of Initiation, which introduce the recipient into the faith: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. There are sacraments of healing: Reconciliation and the Anointing of the Sick. And there are sacraments of communion and mission: Matrimony and Holy Orders.       

A deepening through CCC    

(CCC 1210) Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: (Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 65, 1): they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian's life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life.     

Reflecting and meditating    

(Youcat comment) Baptism joins us with Christ. Confirmation gives us his Spirit. The Eucharist unites us with him. Confession reconciles us with Christ. Through the Anointing of the Sick, Christ heals, strengthens, and consoles. In the sacrament of Matrimony, Christ promises his love in our love and his fidelity in our fidelity. Through the sacrament of Holy Orders, priests have the privilege of forgiving sins and celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.   

(CCC Comment)    

(CCC 1211) Following this analogy, the first chapter will expound the three sacraments of Christian initiation; the second, the sacraments of healing; and the third, the sacraments at the service of communion and the mission of the faithful. This order, while not the only one possible, does allow one to see that the sacraments form an organic whole in which each particular sacrament has its own vital place. In this organic whole, the Eucharist occupies a unique place as the "Sacrament of sacraments": "all the other sacraments are ordered to it as to their end" (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 65, 3).       

(The next question is: What is Baptism?)  

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 192 - Part IV.

      

YOUCAT Question n. 192 - Part IV. Can the Church also change and renew the liturgy?               

(Youcat answer - repeated) There are changeable and unchangeable components of the liturgy. Unchangeable is everything that is of divine origin, for instance, the words of Jesus at the Last Supper. Then there are changeable parts, which the Church occasionally must change. After all, the mystery of Christ must be proclaimed, celebrated, and lived out at all times and in all places.                           

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1204) The celebration of the liturgy, therefore, should correspond to the genius and culture of the different peoples (Cf. SC 37-40). In order that the mystery of Christ be "made known to all the nations… to bring about the obedience of faith" (Rom 16:26), it must be proclaimed, celebrated, and lived in all cultures in such a way that they themselves are not abolished by it, but redeemed and fulfilled  (Cf. CT 53): It is with and through their own human culture, assumed and transfigured by Christ, that the multitude of God's children has access to the Father, in order to glorify him in the one Spirit.                   

Reflecting and meditating               

(Youcat comment) Jesus effectively addressed the entire person: mind and understanding, heart and will. That is precisely what he wants to do today also in the liturgy. That is why it has different characteristics in Africa and in Europe, in nursing homes and at World Youth Days, and differs in appearance in parishes and monasteries. But it must still be recognizable that it is the one liturgy of the whole worldwide Church.                       

(CCC Comment)                 

(CCC 1206) "Liturgical diversity can be a source of enrichment, but it can also provoke tensions, mutual misunderstandings, and even schisms. In this matter it is clear that diversity must not damage unity. It must express only fidelity to the common faith, to the sacramental signs that the Church has received from Christ, and to hierarchical communion. Cultural adaptation also requires a conversion of heart and even, where necessary, a breaking with ancestral customs incompatible with the Catholic faith" (John Paul II, Vicesimus quintus annus, 16).              

(The next question is: Is there some inner logic that unites the sacraments with each other?)