When I teach children about baptism I point out that baptism must be done with water, not Coca Cola, but water. Why is that? Is it just a random, meaningless rule? Is it so that it’s done the same way everywhere? Or is there something special about water? Well, yes, actually. There is something special about water; there is a reason that water is used instead of any other liquid. Every sacrament has a visible and an invisible part. The visible part is the form and matter that make up the sacrament. The form is the prayer of calling down the Holy Spirit. In Mass, when the priest prays the epiclesis he extends both hands over the bread and wine and calls down the Holy Spirit to change them into the Eucharist. In the Sacrament of Confession, the priest extends his hands over the penitent and prays the prayer of absolution, calling down the Holy Spirit to forgive their sins. The matter of the sacrament is the physical part of the sacrament, such as the oil used in the Sacrament of Anointing and the water used in baptism. The visible part of the sacrament, the physical thing used, always symbolizes the invisible grace that is given in the sacrament. So, what does baptism do? Baptism forgives our sins, gives us the life of the Holy Spirit, and makes us members of the Church. Now, what does water do? First, we use water to clean all sorts of things. Cleaning is a metaphor for forgiveness of sins. Sin is like a stain on our soul and baptism removes those stains. Think about what water actually does when we clean something. Most things are able to be dissolved in water. The dirt and grime are dissolved in the water and then washed away. In a way, the waters of baptism dissolve the dirt and grime of sin and wash it away. Water also gives us life. We need water to live, our bodies are mostly made up of water, and if we don’t get enough water we’ll die of dehydration. This is a metaphor for the spiritual life that we receive in baptism through the grace of God. This special grace that we receive in the sacraments is called Sanctifying Grace, and it is the life of God in our souls. Without water, we would die physically, and without Sanctifying Grace, we would die spiritually. In fact, that is exactly what mortal sin does to us. When we commit a mortal sin we turn completely away from God and lose all Sanctifying Grace. We need to go to Confession to repair our relationship with God and be restored to His Sanctifying Grace. Water is a symbol of life, but it’s also a symbol of death. We can drown in the water, and when sailors are buried at sea, they go to “Davy Jones’ Locker.” Baptism is a symbol of the death and Resurrection of Jesus. When we enter the water we are symbolically entering the grave with Christ, and when we come up from the water we are united with the Resurrection of the Lord, who also came out of the grave. As St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Colossians:
You have been buried with Him in baptism. In Him also, you have risen again through faith, by the work of God, who raised him up from the dead. And when you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcission of your flesh, he enlivened you, together with Him, forgiving you of all transgressions, and wiping away the handwriting of the decree which was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken this away from our midst, affixing it to the Cross.
Finally, we are born from water. When a pregnant woman goes into labor, we say that her water breaks. So, going through the waters of baptism is a metaphor for being born, as Jesus says, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (John 3:5). When you were born you became a part of your human family, and when you are born from water and Spirit (that is, baptized) you become a part of God’s family. That’s what the Church really is, the family of God.