Transcript

Previously in Aquinas 101, we explored St. Thomas Aquinas' theology of the sacraments in general.

In this video, we'll focus on what happens in the first two sacraments: Baptism and Confirmation.

Jesus told the Apostles to go and baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Baptism occurs when a minister washes a person's head with water while pronouncing a Trinitarian formula.

This is the sacramentum tantum, the first of the three stages of the sacrament.

The sacramental matter is washing with water.

Water signifies life as one of earthly life's ordinary requirements.

Water also signifies coolness from the heat; it signifies transparency and thus the light of faith.

But if you're in the deep end of the pool or all alone on a raft in the middle of the ocean, water also signifies danger and death, and thus death to sin.

With all of these meanings for the sacramental matter, the baptizer adds the sacramental form.

In Roman Catholicism, the baptizer says, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The word baptize means to immerse.

The baptized plunge into the death and resurrection of Christ.

This religious act occurs through the power of the Most Holy Trinity.

Only God can save, which is what happens in baptism, and the human baptizer is the minister of God at that time, so he says, I baptize you.

To stress the personalism here, the physical washing is of the head because that is the most eminent part of the body.

With the physical rite accomplished, the first spiritual effect of baptism is the divine gift of baptismal character.

Herein, the baptized is incorporated into Christ.

That includes incorporation into Christ's acts and sufferings and into Christ's Church.

Baptismal character gives the ability to receive the entire Christian life of grace, including the other Christian sacraments.

Remember that the sacraments are like rockets, so baptismal character, the res sacramentum, ignites and moves the rocket higher, where we get the final effect of baptism, the res tantum.

Since the baptized has been incorporated into Christ, the baptized lives by Christ's life.

That means the eternal life of God.

So in that holiness, baptism effects the forgiveness of sin, both original sin and personal sin, along with the forgiveness of eternal punishment for such sin.

Baptism also gives sanctifying grace, the supernatural virtues, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, actual graces, and even heavenly glory and bodily resurrection at the end of time.

Baptism makes us yearn to be as closely united with Christ as possible, so baptism orients toward the Eucharist, Christ's real sacramental presence among us.

Because the Eucharist is given to us only through bishops and priests, it's ideal for baptism to be done by a bishop or priest.

This spiritual father engenders new spiritual life into the baptized and then feeds that spiritual child through the Eucharist.

But Christ wants everyone to be baptized, of whatever age, so others besides priests can baptize as need requires.

The new life of babies is a wonderful gift from God, but babies and spiritual children need to grow into the greater life of adulthood.

That's where the sacrament of Confirmation comes in.

Christ gave the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in order to give the young Christian community strength to be His witnesses to themselves and to the world.

Confirmation continues that Pentecostal dynamic in the sacramentum tantum, the first stage of Confirmation.

The sacramental matter is an anointing with sacred chrism on the forehead.

We're anointed on the forehead because we face forward when we're talking with other people.

Confirmation is a blessing to communicate with others.

Chrism is a blessed perfumed oil.

In one way, it's like a lotion to limber up one's muscles for athletic competition.

Religious anointing signifies that God is limbering up our spiritual muscles in order to run the race well, as St. Paul says.

Historically, Old Testament prophets were anointed; so are we in order to be Christian prophets.

Chrism is perfumed like an aftershave to signify that we're now prepared to go out on the town to present a good face, the good face of Christ.

Confirmation adds the sacramental form.

The typical verbal formula is, Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

God's life, the life of the Holy Spirit, is gifted into our souls.

We're sealed like how a driveway needs to be sealed with a blacktop covering against the rain.

Confirmation seals our souls like armor so that we can be knights in combat for Christ.

So that's Confirmation's liturgical rite that gives the second stage, the res sacramentum.

Here, like baptism, we receive a character, a configuration to Christ's priesthood, and that conformational character, as a rocket engine, moves us to the third stage of Confirmation, the final grace of the sacrament, the res tantum.

At this stage, we enjoy the grace to joyfully and successfully witness to Christ's truth and goodness.

We witness to Christ in the Church and in the world.

We serve as mature Christians.

Confirmation often is given to teenagers or to children who have achieved the use of reason, as young as the age of seven.

That's because the use of our intellects is helpful in preaching Christ and defending the Catholic faith.

But Confirmation can be given even to younger children.

Confirmation is not given as a reward for our profession of faith; that profession already occurs with baptism.

Rather, Confirmation is God's gift so that He can speak and defend Christianity through us.

We can think of the child martyrs in the history of the Church, children who professed Christ and died for that profession.

Ordinarily, Confirmation is given by a bishop; sometimes priests can confirm.

Bishops and priests are leaders of the Church.

The fact that Confirmation is given by these spiritual fathers signifies that Confirmation is about raising up adults for the Church.

Through baptism and Confirmation, we are made active in the life of Christ.

That leads us to the next sacrament, the Eucharist.

For that, I'll see you in our next class.

For readings, podcasts, and more videos like this, go to Aquinas101.com.

While you're there, be sure to sign up for one of our free video courses on Aquinas, and don't forget to like and share with your friends because it matters what you think.