When we baptize a child, we begin by bringing the person out of the chaos. It is a simple movement, but I am not sure people understand how powerful it is. As a priest, I am always aware of the power of that moment. What we do is simply to make the sign of the cross on the person about to be baptized. The priest acts first and then the rest of the faithful follow, particularly parents and godparents. This simple act is actually working on the same principle as bringing order out of chaos. When we do that act, we are claiming to all the forces in the spiritual world that this is Christ’s child and they cannot touch him/her anymore. It is an intensely powerful act and moment, even though it seems routine.

This is not something to be taken lightly.

The end of the baptism is also powerful and, likewise, is often misunderstood.

There, the priest touches the ears and lips of the now baptized and says: “May the Lord touch your ears to hear His word and your lips to proclaim His faith to the praise and glory of God the Father.” If you look at it carefully, this is a commissioning.

The baptized receives the call out of the world of darkness, into the light of Christ. Now s/he goes back to the world as a child of light to preach to into the darkness. The person preaches with his/her life. Now in practice, when we baptize babies, it is not possible to completely act on that commissioning and the rite anticipates it. It looks to the future and says, there will come a time when the baptized will fulfill this call at confirmation. This is why when people say that the role of the Catholic is to pay, pray and obey; it is an act of propaganda.

The Catholic by virtue of the baptismal call and later the other two sacraments of initiation—Eucharist and Confirmation has the call to be a revolutionary for Christ as one on the front lines of His Kingdom. Called out of darkness into the light, the person is sent back into darkness as an agent of light to bring the truth of Christ to the world. The problem is that because the act has more of a spiritual significance and we live more in the material world, few people understand it other than a routine act.

from Being Catholic Agents for Change by Fr. Robert J Carr. Link is not affiliated with the New Song Community or the Archdiocese of Boston