Baptism, been there, done that, thank you very much

On January 5, 2011January 5, 2011 By Lee (@disciple96)In Baptism, Marriage, SacramentsLeave a comment

Christ sanctifies the waters of baptism (St Peter's Basilica)

I have a friend who is Mormon. She sent me copy of the Book of Mormon. I asked her to. I told her I had talked to some nice young men in the park and they wanted me to have a copy but they wanted me to call this 800 number and let the home office mail it to me. Yeah, I said, Uh, no, I’ll get one from my friend. She laughed when I told her all this.

But she didn’t laugh when I told her not to baptize me—or any of my family, living or deceased. Ever. Period. I requested and received baptism when I was twelve years old and a Methodist. That’s the only baptism I need or will ever need, thank you very much. Been there, done that. A valid baptism only needs to be done once. And mine was. As for my family, all my relatives (all the ones I ever knew personally, anyway) were baptized Methodists or Baptists. I could look up their geneaological records and have them baptized (or re-baptized, if “necessary”). If I were Mormon. Continue reading “Baptism, been there, done that, thank you very much” →

Religiosity, who needs it?

On September 29, 2009January 25, 2011 By Lee (@disciple96)In Baptism, Bible study, Catholic Doctrine, Sacraments, Words and MeaningsLeave a comment

I guess I’m going to have to start a new category for the blog. The “things I hear people say that blow me away” category. The other day the thing that blew me away was having a Christian tell me that, not only was the Bible just a book written by men, but it is also based on dreams. :O Today I was listening to Catholic radio and I heard a gentleman caller tell the hosts of the show that he doesn’t understand why his wife, who is not Catholic, cannot receive Holy Communion at Mass (which I will address in a separate post), and (it gets worse) now he doesn’t think he needs “religiosity” (or the Church or anything else) based upon the words of the Lord Himself in His conversation with the centurion. Continue reading “Religiosity, who needs it?” →

The Mass, Salvation and the Sacraments, Baptism, Part 2

On September 26, 2009July 25, 2020 By Lee (@disciple96)In Baptism, Catholic Doctrine, Economy of Salvation, Eucharist, Liturgy, Liturgical Prayer, Sacraments, Series2 Comments

This is part of a continuing series of posts on the Mass, salvation and the sacraments. Acknowledgments may be found at the end of this post.

Why do we get baptized or baptize our children? Why do we even need to go to church? I often hear people ask these questions of various believers, some of them teachers of the faith. Rarely do I hear them receive a good answer. Even more rarely do I hear them receive a true answer. I’ve heard people say that we go to church because we need the fellowship of other believers in order to stay faithful on our walk with the Lord. I’ve heard people say that we get baptized to show the Lord that we’re serious and ready to commit our lives to Him. I’ve heard that we Catholics baptize children because of some silly notion that baptism actually does something when anybody can see that it is merely symbolic of a decision made by a person who can reason about such things; so obviously a mere child isn’t capable of benefiting from it, much less, a baby.

Continue reading →

Awe inspiring rites

On May 5, 2009April 26, 2022 By Lee (@disciple96)In CatechesisLeave a comment

Of all the religions I’ve studied (and I’ve studied a few), Catholicism is the most vast, beautiful and truly awe-inspiring. That is, by the way, what the rites of initiation used to be called: the awe-inspiring rites of initiation. And that is what they should be. Awe inspiring.

Continue reading →