Each symbol used in Baptism is a sign of what is happening to the baptised person. They should then affect the way that person lives their life.
Chrism oil is a symbol of being chosen for a special task in life. The anointing with Chrism after baptism is a reminder that the new Christian shares in the life of Jesus who was priest, prophet and King.
In the early days of the church, new Christians were given a white garment to wear as a sign of their new life in which they rejected all sin. White is a colour associated with innocence and purity.
Matthew said that white garment is an outward sign of Christian dignity.
A candle is given to one of the parents who light it from the great paschal candle, which represents the resurrection o Jesus. The ideal time for baptism is at the Easter Vigil, which celebrates the rising of Jesus from death to new everlasting life.
Godparents are the spiritual guardians of the baptised. Baptism should affect the way they try to help guide children.
Godparents, first and foremost, must be full members of the church. They can’t be 11 for example because they would have to fulfil their promise of taking responsibility of Religious instruction. They have to train him/her to practice their faith. Young ones cannot carry out these promises. Usually there are 2 Godparents, a Godmother and a Godfather. They are seen as the Spiritual Guardians of the child and are given responsibilities when the child is baptised.
In the earliest days of the church, the sponsors at the baptism of a child were the parents. But as the baptism of a child were the parents. But baptisms then were seen as old traditions.
Those days sponsors were called ‘Spiritual Parents’ and their duty was to give instructions both before and after baptism and to be a guardian of the spiritual life of the baptised person. This is the origin of the term ‘Godparent’.
Baptism is a sign of God’s love for us all – of the uniqueness, sacredness and beauty in every human being. Baptism must then effect our attitude to life.
Serving others had been an important part of Jesus’ message. Christians and non- Christians both do social work but non-Christians do it for something whereas Christians do it for someone. They do it for God. It is their love of God in action.
The final Judgement tells us how Christians should live their lives. It says that God will divide peoples of all nations into two groups: those who served others and those who did not.
He will tell them: I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink, stranger and you received me in your home, naked and you clothed me, sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me. The righteous will ask when they did all this and God will reply, whenever you did this for others you did it for me.
This is how God and Jesus expect us to serve others.
The Christian principle ‘serve other’ comes directly into conflict with the principle of ‘obey your government’. One dramatic example of this comes from the Latin American Christians.
In the 1960’s many countries in Latin America were military dictatorships whose regimes were often brutal and corrupt. They ignored human rights, took the best land and industries for their own profit and murdered their own citizens. Their economic policies made the poor poorer and the rich richer. Anyone who questioned the rulers were branded communists and often killed.
Christians in these countries found it difficult to believe the government were put there by God and they also found it equally as difficult to serve others without challenging the government.
The situation of poor people has not changed much, but out of this situation developed a way of thinking about God and religion which became known as Liberation Theology. This sees God as the liberator who sets people free, who sides with the poor and who hates injustice.
A Christian who said:
When I give food tot he poor,
They call me a saint.
When I ask why the poor have no food,
They call me communist.
Is trying to emphasise that the poor welcome the generosity of others but those in power take it as an offence.
An individual person may think that any personal effort to give or send aid is virtually useless. The Catholic Fund for Overseas Development (CAFOD) is a voluntary service that much relief from poverty is given. It is the United Kingdom unit of Caritas International. It was set up by the bishops of England and Wales in 1962 to express the concern of the Catholic Church for overseas development. It is funded from the private charity of people who feel that they cannot allow world organisations, agencies of the United Nations and governments to be the only source of help for the developing Nations.
A CAFOD group in a school or parish learns about the problems facing the poor, and they raise funds to support the self-help projects initiated by CAFOD. A committee of parishioners will sometimes act as a link between CAFOD and the whole parish.
The projects of CAFOD are linked with community development, food production, water supplies and origination, preventative medicine, vocational training and adult education.
Particular projects may include a village well: a rural dispensary; a mother and child nutrition scheme; a latrine programme in a slum. These projects aim at developing a healthy community.
CAFOD operates because it believes in the basic equality of all people in the sight of God. Human dignity demands a reasonable standard of living. Everyone has the same basic needs of fuel, clothing and shelter. All who have been baptised share in the risen life of Christ and they try to ‘bring to The Good News to he poor’ as Jesus did. CAFOD is a way of being with Christ ho is hungry, thirsty and in need.
CAFOD is carrying out the baptismal promises of helping by putting it into action.
Abortion is not mentioned in the Bible, but from its earliest history the Church consistently opposed it. This remained the attitude of most Christians until the 1960’s.
Other Christians maintained and defended the Church’s traditional teaching on abortion. In 1968 Pope Paul VI published his authoritative statement Humanae Vitae (on Human Life). It restated as an absolute rule for all Catholics that abortion was wrong.
In the 1960’s many old ideas were reconsidered. Some church leaders felt that traditional teaching on abortion was not useful in the modern world because unqualified people, at great risk to the mother’s health was carrying out dangerous, illegal abortions in unhealthy conditions. Some Christians argue that the most moral thing to do was to resolve the situation.
In 1970 Pope Paul VI said that abortion had been considered to be murder since the first centuries of the Church, and nothing permits it to be considered otherwise.
Many Christians would feel it was important to show compassion for the woman whatever her decision. This would mean showing that they cared for her and would support her whether or not they agreed with her actions.
Most people felt that life is valuable but Christianity teaches that every person is made in God’s image and all life is a gift from God and therefore is sacred.
Baptism is important because it’s a sign of God’s love. When we are baptised, we are invited to join His family. It is the faith and love of our parents that brings us to baptism. When you are baptised we are turning away from our tendency to sin.
The origin of baptism for Christians is the baptism of Jesus. It marked a new beginning in His life. God declared Him to be His son and He received the Holy Spirit. A person who is baptised becomes a child of God through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Baptism can shape the way we think and change our lives through serving others. This was an important part of Jesus’ message. They may want to support such organisation like CAFOD. All those who have been baptised share in the risen life of Christ and try to bring the Good News to the poor as Jesus’ did. CAFOD are carrying out the baptismal promises of helping others by putting them into action. By supporting them we are doing the same.
The Catholic Church believes that euthanasia is wrong, that life is sacred and only God can make decisions over death. The Pope said euthanasia was contributing to a ‘profound change in the way life and relationships between people are considered’ and called it ‘a grave violation in the Law of God’.
Catholics realise that in practice decisions on euthanasia are not straightforward. For example, Catholics accept that it is right to ease the suffering of the terminally ill, even when the effect of using pain relieving drugs may be to end the patients life sooner than if they were left to suffer. They do not see this as euthanasia, because no one is changing what would naturally happen in the situation.
Christians through the ages have found that the grace of God sustains heart and mind to the end in difficult situations and so can Christians today who face painful or drawn out death.
‘ A Priest should always refuse the sacraments to those who do not practice their faith’
Faith is a gift from God and it demands a living response. It is trust in God’s love care. This is what it means to practice the faith and this must be clarified in order to discuss the statement.
Faith is our personal relationship with God whom Christians practice through prayer, awareness of the spiritual in life and the living out of gospel values.
We practice the faith when we follow the commandments of Christ, which are a summary of the Ten Commandments.
We practice the faith when we serve others, when we show compassion for those who suffer and work to remove the causes of injustice especially in the developing world.
So after looking at this we can ask ourselves if the priest uses only Mass attendance as a measure of practice of the faith?
I think that a Priest should never refuse the sacraments to those who don’t go to church. If he has doubts about the person’s faith then, being a priest, he should help them and guide them. He should remember that Jesus rejected nobody and the priest should look at His example as a guideline.
We should also remember that God is not limited tot he Sacraments – He loves all His people. Priests should also remember that a child cannot start his/her Christian journey if he refuses Baptism. The reputation of the parents should not be taken into account when it comes to the decision of whether or not to baptise the child.
Although the child cannot make up his/her mind on their own at their young age, their parents attitude tot he faith should not be burdened upon the child.
So by looking at this we can question, also, whether a person who is not willing to give thanks to God in the Eucharist want the gift of life for his family.
The Priest should explore the motives of the parents. To make his decision he has to have reasonable certainty that there is honesty and freedom in the intentions of the parents as they promise to bring up their child in the faith. Faith is a living relationship with God.
Other Christians, who believe that a priest should always refuse the sacraments to those who do not practice their faith, can argue why, if they don't attend mass, they should receive the sacraments. Many people would agree with this even if they weren’t Christians. We can argue that although, for some reason, they don’t attend mass they may want their child tot receive the sacraments and the Godparents appointed at the Baptismal Ceremony to carry out their promises and bring up the child in the faith.
When the parents want their child baptised they must understand exactly what they are taking on. If this understanding is not there the priest may have to refuse baptism or at least postpone it.
The priest may have to look at the needs of the community and would have to be careful that ‘refusal’ did not stigmatise a family.
The influence of grandparents or close friends of the family may ensure that the child will be brought up in the faith.
The family may need special consideration. This is where the Parish Community may support the weak faith of a parent who is trying to bring up a family in the love and knowledge of Jesus.
It must be evident that there is a personal relationship with the Lord before the priest can accept a request for Baptism.
So in conclusion, we can say that we know God is not bound by the sacraments. A child Baptised and brought up outside the life of the church can go on to live a life of faith.
Those parents who have doubts or do not attend church regularly should find support and help from the church community not refusal.
