BAPTISM
We baptize people in the name of the Father…the Son… and the Holy Spirit, the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sustainer.
God the Father, the Creator, makes us think of water: the water of creation, the dangerous water of the flood, the water the people went through into freedom, and the water Jesus was baptized in.
God the Son makes us think of someone who said such wonderful things and did such amazing things that people just had to ask him who he was. One time when they asked him who he was, he said… “I am the Light.”
The Holy Spirit makes us think of a dove riding an invisible wind coming, to us when we need comfort and power. It is invisible like the scent of oil. It is invisible but it is still there.
People are baptized when they are babies, or children, or teenagers, or grownups, or when they are very old. The priest asks the person about to be baptized questions, or if it’s a baby too little to answer, we ask the parents or the godparents. We say prayers for them. Then we are ready First, water is poured on the person’s head to remind us of God the Father, and the priest says “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Then the sign of the cross is made on the person’s head with oil to remind us of the Holy Spirit, and the priest says, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever. Amen.”
Then a candle is lit from the Christ Candle to remind us that Jesus is the Light and given to the newly baptized person as the priest says, “Remember the day of your Baptism.” The day we are baptized we receive the Light and we become part of God’s family the Church.
