Evangelisation: Baptism

...I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins...

When John was baptising in the Jordan he told his followers "I baptise you with water, but one is coming after me who will baptise you with the Holy Spirit"    That this was important was emphasise by Jesus Himself who said to Nathaniel "Unless you are born again of water and the Holy Spirit, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven".   There are therefore two elements to this baptism there is a cleansing and then  the Holy Spirit coming into the soul in a special way

So what is this cleansing?   We know that when mankind was created they were born as perfect as God could make them.   They were totally pleasing to God.  But then in some way man used his free will to rebel and tainted his own nature.  This we read in the Bible as the Fall, but the story in the Bible of Adam and Eve was some kind of prosaic writing to explain something that not even the writer knew.   He only knew that man born perfectly was now imperfect and there had to be a reason.   But guided by the Holy Spirit he nevertheless knew that there would one day come a Saviour who could, if man wished, restore him to the friendship and unity with God, which had been intended.   The cleansing therefore, is the forgiveness of previous sins to a contrite heart, a purifying of the soul from the past.   But the coming of the Holy Spirit announces a new era when the Holy Spirit will bestow grace into the soul and be present in the soul to help men and women to lead the Holy lives that God intended them to lead.   But man will be free to co-operate with the Spirit or not co-operate.    The choice is his or hers.   To be content to be the person he or she is, or move forward and be the person God wants him or her to be.  That is their choice.

So here I am like St Paul, still in the race and struggling towards the finish.   Struggling because the good things I should do, I do not, and the things I should not do, I do.   But my faith tells me that if I keep in the race and do not give up, like St Paul, I will win the Kingdom of Heaven.   So that is my prize.      But what of those, the vast majority of mankind, who will never know Jesus and His Church.   Are they all separated from God in the next life.   To put it bluntly, can only Catholics enter heaven?   Now when I grew up as a Catholic in the 1940's and 1950's  I WAS NEVER TAUGHT THIS, and I was never taught it, because the Catholic Church did not teach it and never has.     There is a phrase from the Council of Florence round about the 12th Century which was that 'OUTSIDE THE CHURCH THERE IS NO SALVATION', but this Council was answering the threat of King Philip of France who was threatening to withdraw the French Church from Rome.    What the Council was saying is this.   Replacing the Catholic Church would be a grave error for ONLY the Catholic Church can bring salvation to the world.   All graces come from the Sacraments of the Catholic Church and ONLY the Cathollc Church.    This of course brings me into conflict with Protestants.   Are they then going to Hell?    No, they benefit from the outpouring of Grace into the world every time a Mass is said.    The power of enacting the Passion of Jesus fills the world with grace for all men and women, and the Holy Spirit can enlighten many into the ways of goodness and yes, even holiness, which can save their souls.   This was said in my schooldays to be Baptism of Desire.   If I am found  guilty of triumphalism in saying such a thing, I can only plead my humility in doing so.  There is One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism, founded by Jesus Christ and I must speak the truth welcome or unwelcome.   



 

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