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Baptism: New Life and Ways of Living Through symbolic immersion in the waters of baptism, you are “grafted into the paschal mystery of Christ.” In a mysterious way, you “die with Him, are buried with Him, and rise with Him.” As a baptized Christian, you are an adopted brother or sister of Christ, “hid with Christ in God,” but a visible member of His Body. Having died to sin (both original sin and personal sins are cleansed away in the waters of baptism), you have entered the community of the Church “as through a door.” Your indelible baptism into Christ was the beginning of a unique lifelong vocation. Many people exercise their baptismal calling through parish activities. Assisting their parish priests, they serve as distributors of Holy Communion, lectors, commentators, choir leaders, ushers, servers, members of the parish council, the Legion of Mary, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Holy Name Society, and many other parish groups. Some serve the spiritual and community life of their parishes by teaching religion and taking part in adult-education programs, Scripture study, prayer groups, and family enrichment groups, such as Marriage Encounter. Many find their baptismal faith revitalized by praising God together as charismatic Catholics. These are only some of the ways in which baptized members of Christ’s Body live out the mystery of their baptismal vocation. A major way of living the life of baptism is called the religious life. Heeding a special grace from God, some people enter religious orders and congregations and become religious Brothers and Sisters. Some religious also become priests, blending their religious life with their special priestly ministry. As a consecrated religious, these people dedicate themselves to God by vowing to live the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. As Vatican II explains, their lives are devoted to God’s service: “This constitutes a special consecration and is a fuller expression of it.” Through your baptism, you share with others “the sacramental bond of unity existing among all who through it are reborn.” Your baptism can never be repeated because it binds you to God forever. The bond is unbreakable. It is possible for you to lose grace and even faith, but you cannot lose your baptism. You are marked as one of God’s own. That same bond links you to all other baptized persons in a sacramental way. You are one of us and we are all “sacrament persons.” Together we are called to live until death the baptismal mystery into which we have been plunged.
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