Baptism and religious education
Patrick Johnson teaches religious education at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Hillsboro on Sept. 22, 2024. (NTC/Matthew Redden)
Every Sunday at Mass, in reciting the Creed, we proclaim to believe in “one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” When we do, it might be fair to say the average Catholic does not always stop to ponder the significance of such a statement. After all, when is the last time you stopped to think “when I was baptized, I was born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, washed and renewed in the gift of regeneration, and granted adoption into the family of God through being buried with Christ and rising with Him to new life?” Perhaps it has been a while.
Regardless, all this is implicit in the Creed. It is also inherent in what Christ says to Nicodemus: “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above … Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (John 3: 3, 5).
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we are reminded of how God, in the Old Covenant, prepared for and prefigured baptism, especially in the ordeal of Noah and the ark, through which the Church sees a prefiguring of salvation by baptism (CCC 1219). In fact, St. Peter declares: “this prefigured baptism, which saves you now” (1 Peter 3:21).
Why does St. Peter say baptism “saves you now?” Does this mean all Catholics need to do to inherit eternal life is be baptized? Absolutely not. On the contrary, while baptism initiates us into divine life by sanctifying grace, baptism obliges us to grow in our faith and “live out our baptism,” committing us to a new, supernatural, life. Essential to this end is post-baptismal instruction, otherwise known as religious education.
Religious education, which is distinct from sacramental preparation, has the primary goal of helping the baptized grow in the “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5; 16:26). Faith is the virtue by which we completely and freely submit our intellect and will to God, assenting to God the revealer with our whole being because the truth revealed to us is guaranteed by God (CCC 143-144). In other words, we come to trust God because He has shown himself to us.
This trust-filled faith is a grace, a gift, and a supernatural virtue infused by Him (CCC 153). However, since faith is a human act (CCC 154), the intellect must be moved to see God’s truth. This occurs by way of the “motives of credibility” which are external proofs of God’s revelation such as “the miracles of Christ and the saints, prophesies, the Church’s growth and holiness, and her fruitfulness and stability” (CCC 156).
This molds a faith which is both certain (CCC 157) and seeks understanding (CCC 158). This last point is the cornerstone of the spiritual life, for one with faith intrinsically “desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith and to understand better what He has revealed,” creating a more penetrating knowledge which will in turn “call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love” (CCC 158).
Such a faith is necessary, for “without faith, it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Some shudder at this notion, asking “why would this be?” To answer briefly, because of the connection between trust, desire, and relationship. What kind of relationship could you have with someone which was not based on trust and permeated with desire to be in their presence?
If you have a relationship with the Lord based on trust in Him and desire for Him, you are, to a degree, tasting in advance, the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey where we shall see God “face to face,” “as He is” (CCC 163). For this pleasurable state, do you have anyone in your life who helped you find this peace? Have you thanked your director of religious education lately?