Last Saturday I took part of a family reunion for the baptism of one of my nieces, daughter of my wife’s brother. I do not remember when was the last time, before this, I was in a Catholic church for any kind of ceremony and this fact made me to use this opportunity to pay attention to the ceremony itself.
The Catholic baptism is like a registration in a specific club, in this case the Catholic one, which will be the social group to what a child will belong at least till the date when that child will be able to negate its parent’s choice. Yes, baptism is (normally) a parent’s choice because, in Portugal, children receive baptism in the first couple of months after birth. Football club lovers very often do the same: their children are registered as associates not much after birth. This is faith!
The script of a baptism ceremony has not changed that much. After a while I got familiar again with all that blah, blah, blah (my memory still works, you know!) and I immediately got into the conclusion that Catholic Church runs slow, very slow. I then saw myself lost in thoughts about religiosity of mankind and in pros and cons for a life totally dedicated to God, just like priests apparently do. All the typical text written for a baptism may drive you to a collision with irrationality if you think it too much! So, you better don’t… This is faith!
The career of a Catholic human being starts with baptism (first anointment, first sacrament), followed by Catechism (Sunday school), First Holy Communion, more Catechism, Confirmation or Chrismation or second Holy Communion, more Catechism and Sunday masses (or whatever day), some extra activities like Scouting, groups of transcendental introspection, music or theatre groups, civic activities like supporting old people and then (aiming the species continuity) marriage. After marriage, children will come. After children, baptism will come again. The last step will be the last anointment which takes place when your soul is still together with your body right before its departure to a nice place very close to God, where it will stay happy ever after. This is faith!
A Catholic baptism is a commitment. It cannot be taken by the child, surely not, but for some reason the parents and godparents are present, holding the child and a huge candle, respectively. Godparents’ mission is very similar to the one assumed by USA, related to the rest of the World, long time ago: make sure everybody accomplishes respective goals while living in peace forever and ever. This is faith!
A Catholic baptism is comparable to a stain-remover spray. Human beings all are born as sinners: we carry the Capital Sin, first committed by Adam and Eve, since the very first moment we are conceived. But God is merciful and gave us Baptism through what we are able to reset our sins counter to zero. The water used for the ceremony has no detergents or corrosive substances. It is, instead, a holy water which is supposed to be enough to clean us up until we commit sin again. This is faith!
May the gods be with us…
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