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THEOLOGY OF SACRAMENT

Water transforms those entering the faith

Peter Arnos is relatively new to the group, so perhaps he never got the memo: Catholics are supposed to be reticent about their faith, cherishing it in quiet reflection, yet relegating it to the realm of private matters.

Mr. Arnos, 60, is different. He wants the world to know how he came to baptism Mar. 22, 2008, at the Easter vigil Mass at St. Mary's Church in Clinton Heights. The date is enshrined in his memory, and so is the event, which he readily recalls.

As he was immersed in the baptismal pool, his parishioner friends prayed over him. 

He emerged after receiving the rites of initiation into a community that embraced and hugged him.

His baptism was more than some sprinkling of water and the reciting of formulaic prayers.

"What I was given was love," said Mr. Arnos, born of non-religiously observant Greek parents. His trek to the baptismal waters included long years in his family's dry-cleaning business, where he began to feel an urgent call to join the Catholic community in Clinton Heights.

A trip to Medjugorje, the village in Croatia where some Catholic pilgrims believe Mary has appeared to visionaries, galvanized his desire for faith.

"I always wanted a place to call my church, to be in God's family," said Mr. Arnos, still enthused about the baptismal experience a year and a half later.

Coming in 
Most Catholics in the Albany Diocese who receive baptism don't emerge with the same kind of visible enthusiasm. Actually, most don't remember the experience.

In 2008, there were 3,315 infants baptized in the Diocese, joined by 108 children ages 7-17 and 87 adults who were received into the Church, most in parishes on the same Easter vigil as Mr. Arnos, a traditional time to bring adult converts into full communion with the Church.

Baptism is the first sacrament of all Christians, a concept with a long history of poetic theological reflection. The Catholic Catechism defines sacrament as "a masterwork" of God.

The old Baltimore Catechism defined sacrament as "an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace." Vatican Council II in the 1960s referred to the Church itself as a sacrament, "a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race."

Sacraments are full of signs, symbols and spiritual realities, and baptism is particularly rich in that regard, noted Elizabeth Simcoe, chancellor for pastoral services for the Diocese. Water is a sign of God's grace which, in the baptismal sense, places an indelible mark on a person.

Baptism is not erased and cannot be taken away. In a real sense, said Ms. Simcoe, a baptized Christian remains so, even if she never darkens the door of a church.

Like any powerful reality, baptism is also plagued by misconceptions and erroneous beliefs. Many of these flow from an approach to baptism based on fear, according to Ms. Simcoe.

The medieval theological construct of limbo - a theory, recently formally rejected by the Church, which states that unbaptized infants who die will live in eternity bereft of God's presence - sometimes created a focus on quick baptism so that a wrathful God would spare an innocent that fate.

Washed clean
Baptismal water has a long history as a symbol, both Scriptural and natural, noted Ms. Simcoe. John the Baptizer called upon the Jews of his day to repent, symbolized by a Baptism. Even the perils of water - the spectre of flooding and drowning - are also part of the symbolism of full immersion, used often in the rite for adults.

The symbol of full immersion is a sign of "dying to an old way of life to a new way of life," said Ms. Simcoe.

Other aspects of baptism, noted Ms. Simcoe, include:

• It is perhaps the most ecumenical of all the sacraments. All the major Christian denominations have accepted each other's baptism, provided if the rite is performed with the pouring on of water and invoking the traditional Trinitarian formula ("...in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit").

• The symbol of oil is part of the rite. Its Scriptural legacy goes back to King David, who was anointed king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:13). It is a sign of God's grace, "which strengthens us in Christian life," said Ms. Simcoe.

• It has been transformed in Catholic consciousness in recent decades through the widespread use of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). The experience of new Catholics, such as Mr. Arnos, who publicly proclaim their faith in front of a parish, is a powerful symbol in itself. It brings baptism into a wider arena, offering a source of reflection for all Catholics, those who were baptized as infants as well as recent converts.

All may see
"It allows a community to recognize the power of conversion in another person's life. It causes people to reflect on their own life and their own ongoing conversion," said Ms. Simcoe.

For Mr. Arnos, the sacrament has meant a personal conversion that continues, day after day.

Now retired from his dry- cleaning business, he spends a big chunk of nearly every day going to Mass and praying the Rosary, sometimes while cutting the lawn at St. Mary's. He is ready to share his post-baptismal bliss of entering into a new life he always desired.

"I've never been so happy," he said. "I've never had so much joy. I've never had so much peace."


POPULAR CULTURE

Baptism themes common in film 

When Linda Neidl teaches her morality class to high school students at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady, she faces a crowd that includes the devout and those who rarely go to church outside of school events. And, as teenagers, she knows they are routinely skeptical and questioning.

But everyone loves a story, she noted, and some of the best points she makes about the impact of Catholicism on morality come while discussing films that, on first glance, seem to have little to do with Church doctrine.

For example, she noted, baptismal imagery in films goes back decades. Ms. Neidl used to teach about "The Miracle Worker," the story of Helen Keller, the woman born deaf and blind who painstakingly was taught to communicate. The first word she learned was "water," an apt baptismal symbol.

For her classes these days, Ms. Neidl relies heavily on "Whale Rider", a New Zealand film made in 2002. It tells the story of a young girl who emerges as a prophet to her embattled Maori community, making sacred rituals come alive for a people in danger of losing them amidst the onslaught of modern secular life.

For Ms. Neidl, the climatic scene, when the heroine rides a whale into the sea, reeks of baptismal symbolism.

The movie, she said, raises questions that cause Catholic high school students to reflect upon their own tradition, particularly the role religion and religious ritual plays in developing a communal sense of morality in a culture not always receptive to faith.

"Story and action can be transformative. That's what a sacrament is supposed to be," she said. When it comes to end-of-year student evaluations, she said, the discussion of the sacramental imagery of "Whale Rider" is often cited by students as the most memorable portion of the class. (PF) 

(09/17/09) [[In-content Ad]]

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