'Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.' -John 3:5
I was listening to a homily last Sunday. It was about a man who recently passed away. He was sick, he needed blood. Many parishioners donated blood to him. Before his death, he expressed to the priest of his intention to be baptised. He told him about how he is touched by the generosity of Christians.
In my mind, I was telling myself that it was great; that another man had been won for the Kingdom by being born again through the waters of baptism. To my horror, the priest refused him baptism on the grounds that his intention was not right. (do pray for his soul) *sigh*
What then would be the intention to convert, if not for the experience of Christ's love through a concrete manner? Would rhetoric do better? *sigh*. The love that is expressed by a Christian is the most practical manner in winning souls for Christ. It makes no sense refusing baptism to a person touched by Christ!
'This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.' - John 13:35Baptism is the ordinary manner of which one is given eternal life with God and His saints in heaven. To deprive a person of the grace of baptism for no good reason would be a great error, if not a sin.
'The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them. Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit." God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.' - CCC 1257Even non-Christians may administer baptism. This shows how important this sacrament is and how much effort has been placed to ensure that a person would be baptised.
'In case of necessity, anyone, even a non-baptized person, with the required intention, can baptize , by using the Trinitarian baptismal formula.' - CCC 1256
To win souls for Christ- This is the duty of every Christian. Let us all be reminded of this. If others have neglected their duties, let us, with God's grace, take up the tasks ourselves. We must instruct the ignorant, to speak the truth with charity, but the truth nonetheless.
- '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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.' - Matt 28:20
4 comments:
Unbelievable that the priest said no but actually i am not surprised
I remember my grandmother. She was gravely ill and everytime we asked her if she would like to be baptised, she would say no.
Then one day, she said on her own accord that she would like to be baptised. She said an "English Priest" came during the night and blessed her. We checked with the nurses. There were no "english priests". I think she had a religious experience.
An incredibly, when we approach a priest, whom i now know as having "spirit of vatican ii" tendencies, he actually said that he would not baptise my grandmother until she went for catechism etc. And my grandmother's health was frail!
Fortunately my Dad happened to meet a priest in the same church from the neo-catechumenical way. When told about my grandmother, he immediately set out to baptise my grandmother and she was baptised as Maria.
She got well later and was able to receive some catechetical instruction before she passed away six months after her baptism.
When i was ignorant, i thought that perhaps Fr. was just being overly cautious.
Now that iknow that he is a "spirit of vatican ii" type of priest. The pieces seem to fall into place.
Its almost as if they are reluctant to baptise people.
Maybe they see baptism as being some sort of hocus pocus.
Perhaps i am being judgmental...
Please pray for him nevertheless. He is an important an influential priest in our arcdiocese.
Online Pharmacy for Cialis, Levitra, Tamiflu, Viagra. Get Cheap Medication online. Buy Pills Central.
[url=http://buypillscentral.com/buy-generic-cialis-online.html]Discount Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, Tamiflu Drugstore Online[/url]. prescription generic pills. Cheap medications pharmacy
I'm appreciate your writing skill.Please keep on working hard.^^
One of the most beautiful aspects of the sacrament of baptism is that the graces it endows is not completely contingent on the understanding of the individual. This is part of the reason for Godparents. Their faith is supposed to stand in place of the child's until he grows in his own understanding.
Concern for the salvation of non-baptized people is what led the early Church to administer baptism as soon as possible after birth even though it led to the necessity of separating the three sacraments of Christian initiation: baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist.
It is truly a sorrow that that anyone should be refused such a necessary sacrament. Our priests need so many prayers right now.
Post a Comment