Weeks ago, my nephew was baptized. I was chosen as one of the Godmothers. The ceremony was short, for like 15 minutes. So it’s not that tiring standing till it ended. As I was there, listening to the Priest, it got me to thinking, what does baptism really means for us Catholics/Christians?

I know that I was also baptized when I was a child. My mother told me that I was months old when I received my baptism. Now, I’m on my 24th, grown up, still the meaning is not that clear to me. What is the use of Godparents, how it’ll affect me as a Christian, etc. So I did my research.

It says that:

**Baptism is not to be regarded merely as a ceremony devised for the Christian naming of infants. It is a sacrament, in which the children are brought publicly to be Baptised, and to be received into the Church of Christ; and in which they are brought into the Spiritual Presence of God, in order that they may receive His Holy Blessing. It is a service of consecration and dedication, of faith and thanksgiving and worship of God.

When an infant is baptised he/she can’t answer the questions for him/herself, so someone needs to answer on his/her behalf.  Godparents (also called sponsors or proxies) were originally introduced into the baptism service for this reason.  In the history of the church godparents also promised to bring the child up in the Christian faith, and took responsibility for this.

For Roman Catholics, baptism by water is a sacrament of initiation into the life of children of God (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1212-13). It configures the person to Christ (CCC 1272), and obliges the Christian to share in the Church’s apostolic and missionary activity (CCC 1270). The Catholic Tradition holds that there are three types of baptism by which one can be saved: sacramental baptism (with water), baptism of desire (explicit or implicit desire to be part of the Church founded by Jesus Christ), and baptism of blood (martyrdom).

 Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism

http://www.christianspiritualism.org/services/christeningchild.htm

http://www.baptism.org.uk/christening.htm

Pics taken during the ceremony: