The Sacrament of Baptism

The gateway into the Christian life, baptism is a bath of water with an accompanying word. The water signifies that baptism is a new birth ; the word indicates that this new life is given and retained by the Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Spirit. This gesture of Christian initiation is present in the Gospel: Jesus himself asked his cousin John to immerse him into the water and he sent his disciples to baptize all the nations. Baptism is the first of the seven sacraments recognized by the Catholic Church (baptism, confirmation, eucharist, marriage, order, penance, anointing of the sick). It marks the beginning of a life that separates us permanently from evil in order to follow Jesus dead and risen for love of human beings.