Baptism is the first sacrament of initiation received in the Catholic Church. The sacrament not only washes away the mark of original sin, but invites us into the Catholic church, and we enter the community of God. To be baptized, you do not need to be a certain race, gender, or age. We are all welcome to join God’s community. The sacrament of baptism usually takes place when we are infants, but you can be baptized at any age (Baptism). As an infant, the parents make the executive decision to enter you into the Catholic Church; once we are baptized an indelible mark is sealed on our soul and can never go away. The parents will choose godparents to accompany you on your faith journey. The godparents must be baptized, Catholics who carry out the Christian lifestyle. The priest will then say the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy …show more content…
The adult has the decision to get baptized and takes special classes to learn about the faith. When you are older, you can decide which form of baptism to undergo. Affusion is when only part of the body is poured with water, while immersion is when the entire body is immersed into the water.
The Sacrament of baptism has several different effects. It removes original sin that was imprinted on our soul from Adam and Eve, and removes the sins we commit. Baptism gives us remission of our sins that we commit both here on earth, and in purgatory. We are granted the gift of sanctifying grace from grace, and allowed to participate in the other sacraments to grow our grace. Finally, not only do we become part of the Catholic Church, but a part of Christ (The Sacrament).
As a baptized Catholic, our call is to invite others into the Catholic Church and to preach God’s word. Christ himself instructs us that baptism is necessary for salvation, "Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man is born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." John