BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION
Baptism
My simple catechism called “The Way to Happiness” taught me, “Baptism is a sacrament which cleanses us from Original Sin, makes us children of God and members of the Church and heirs of heaven.” This sacrament is so important to us that the council of Florence described it as the gateway to life in the Spirit; and the New Catholic Catechism refers to it as the foundation of every Christian life. Sin came into the world through Adam and Eve and everybody except the Blessed Virgin Mary is born with the original Sin, through baptism we are purified of this original sin and made sons and daughters of Christ. So, baptism is very necessary for our salvation as Christ instructed, “Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 5:5) Christ instituted baptism when he said to the apostles, “…All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Thus, the form of baptism must be in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. It was in this way St. Paul was baptized after his conversion. (cf. Acts 9:18).

There is no gain mentioning (because you know it already) that baptism is a sacrament and it imprints a character on the soul, but we must mention that water is necessary for its administration. Water is very symbolic. It is the Christian symbol for the spirit of God. From water we learn about five things about the Holy Spirit. Water fertilizes (Ps. 1.3); water cleanses (Eph. 5.26), water refreshes (John 4:14); water is abundant (John 7: 37-38) and water is given freely (Rev. 22:17.) The symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit’s action in Baptism. (cf. Bekeh and Chidi, Refreshed by the Holy Spirit: the nuclear energy of Christians, p.25.)
Natural water is the valid matter of baptism. Christ’s baptism was made with natural water and he affirms this teaching to Nicodemus in John 3:5 that we must be baptized in Water and Spirit. Baptism can be done either by immersion or by sprinkling. For the first twelve centuries, baptism by immersion was the most common form practiced by the Church but the tradition of the Church has always held that baptism can be validly administered by sprinkling. St. Augustine says that sins are forgiven by Baptism even though the water merely sprinkles the child ever so lightly and Thomas Aquinas in the 13th Century says baptism can be conferred by sprinkling or pouring. Aquinas argues that it is most improbable that the three thousand people Peter converted and baptized on Pentecost Sunday were immersed because there would not be enough water in Jerusalem at the time. (cf. Canon Francis Ripley, This is the Faith: a complete explanation of the Catholic Faith, p.230)

The minister of baptism is the bishop, priest and deacon but in matters of grave necessity, anybody can do baptism even if he himself is not baptized as far as he has the required intention. The required intention says the New Catholic Catechism is “to will to do what the Church does when she baptizes, and to apply the Trinitarian baptismal formula. The Church finds the reason for this possibility in the universal saving will of God and the necessity of Baptism for salvation.” (CCC 1256) There is also the baptism of desire where it is not possible for a baptism of water. Baptism of desire is a perfect contrition of heart, and every act of perfect charity or pure love of God, which contains, at least implicitly, a desire of baptism. (cf. Canon Ripley, op.cit. p.233.)

Any one not yet baptized is able to receive baptism. The Protestants have always fought the Catholic Church over infant baptism. We must note that this is because of their understanding of baptism. For them, it is just a symbol and not a sacrament. For us Catholics, it is a sacrament that washes us from our original sin and actual sin. Did Peter not said in the scriptures, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children…” (Acts. 2: 38-39) The Catholic Church has always held that Christ’s law applies to infants as well as adults. (cf. karl keating, Catholicism and Fundamentalism, p.178). Was Christ himself not indignant with his apostles when they refused little children to come to him? What did he say, “ Let the children be, do not keep them back from me; the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matt 19:14) A parallel of the text from Luke 18:15 shows that the little children were brought to him. In the Greek children referred to are infants. Also, circumcision in the old dispensation was done to infants and St. Paul teaches that baptism is the new circumcision. (cf. Colossians 2: 11-12) We also note that the household of the jailers of Paul and Silas were all converted and baptized (Acts 16:33), Lydia’s household were all baptized by Paul. According to keating, granted we cannot tell the age of the children, they may have been past the age of reason, not infants. Then again, they could have been infants. Though the scriptural evidence is not absolutely conclusive on the issue, it leans in favor of infant baptism. (cf. karl keating, op.cit. p.179) We must point out that from the early Christian writers we learn that Christ commanded that all be baptized without any exception.


Confirmation
For Confirmation, I was taught in my catechism classes is “ a sacrament by which we receive the Holy Ghost, in order to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ.” The sacrament of confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. The New catholic Catechism teaches that, “by the sacrament of confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.” (CCC 1286)

Like the definition above, confirmation makes us true soldiers of Christ and we have the mission of defending, expanding our territory, in other words preach the faith by our actions and by words. Jesus shortly before his resurrection promised his Holy Spirit. He says, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:16-18) When it came on Pentecost Sunday, the fearful Peter, preached and converted 3000 people (Acts 2:14-21) and the apostles received it in a mighty way. After our baptism, we await the promised Spirit and this Spirit we receive at confirmation. We also read about the Sacrament of Confirmation in the early Church in Acts 8:14ff “Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might received the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” The people of Samaria were baptized but had not yet received Confirmation, the Sacrament of confirmation was being given to them by Peter and John.

The Church teaches that the effect of the Sacrament of Confirmation is the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost. Thus,
· It roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, “Abba Father.”
· It unites us more firmly to Christ.
· It increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us.
· It renders our bond with the Church more perfect.
· It gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross. (cf. CCC 1303)

The ordinary minister of confirmation is the Bishop although the bishop may for grave reasons concede to priests the faculty of administering Confirmation. The reason why it is the Bishops is because, they are the successors of the Apostles and they have received the fullness of Holy Orders.

At Confirmation we receive gifts from the Holy Spirit. I have decided to categorize them here as I did in my book, “Refreshed by the Holy Spirit.” The basic categories are:
1. The Sanctification gifts of Isaiah 11:2; wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. Everybody needs these gifts to grow as a Christian.
2. The Spiritual gifts or the manifestation gifts of service of I Corinthians 12: 4-11; A word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, faith, the gifts of healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, the discernment of Spirits, families of tongues and interpretation of tongues. Every Christian needs these gifts for witness. You must not have all the gifts. Maybe just one.

The fruits of the Holy Spirit are Charity, joy, peace patience, benignity goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency and chastity.

As I conclude this teaching, let me quickly comment on what is known popularly within the Catholic Charismatic circles as baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is worthwhile mentioning this because some Catholics are confused whether this is another sacrament. The terminology itself is a borrowed terminology from the Protestants. According to Msgr. Vincent Walsh in his book, “A key to Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church”, baptism of the Holy Spirit represents a power, given by Christ to his Church, which for many centuries has not been part of the daily preaching and faith of the Church, but which has always been part of the Church’s ascetical and mystical teaching.”

In my book “Refreshed by the Holy Spirit,” 2002, p.33, I posit that this term can be conveniently replaced with terms like, “in break of the Holy Spirit”, “great outpouring of the Holy Spirit”, and “infilling of the Holy Spirit.” This terminology appears nine terms in the New Testament, one time in the letters of St. Paul and eight times in St. Luke’s account.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a religious experience or prayer experience whereby the individual experiences Christ in a personal way. This experience normally comes as a result of the release of the power of the Holy Spirit, which usually is already present in the individual by virtue of his or her baptism and confirmation. The major difference with baptism in the Holy Spirit is that, a person who is not sacramentally baptized or confirmed can receive it. In the case of a person not baptized and confirmed, the receiving of the baptism of the Holy Spirit should lead him or her to receive the sacramental baptism and confirmation. The former is not a substitute to the latter. Remember the experience of Cornelius and his family, when they received baptism in the Holy Spirit, peter had them immediately baptized. Peter said, “These people have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can anyone, stop them from being baptized with water?” (Acts 110:4)
Paper by:
Bekeh Utietiang