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Instruction For Adult Baptism
Instruction For Adult Baptism
ADULTS TO BE BAPTIZED
FIRST SESSION
Aim:
1. To establish rapport with the candidate of adult baptism
2. To draw out from the candidate the reasons why he/she wants to be baptized and bring
him/her to a deeper motivation.
3. To help him/her understand that his/her request for baptism is a call from God and at the
same time his/her response to the call.
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Establishing Rapport
- Get to know the candidate; name, address, birthday, and other background
information.
C. Synthesis
- It is God who calls us to enter into a loving relationship with Him. Thus, He
chooses us:
: To become His child;
: to become a member of the Church, the people of God.
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the candidate to be converted to God, and recognize Him as creator
and Father. This is shown is his life experiences and in his desire to
be baptized. His “personal experiences” of God and his desire for
baptism are in itself a grace from God.
b) His/her Faith is Certain
: The candidate was moved to believe because it was God himself, the
Truth who revealed (manifested) Himself as God, creator, protector,
Father and guide to him/her.
: He/she believes not because of intellectual reasoning or proofs but
because God Himself spoke to him/her.
c) His/her Faith Seeks to Understand
: The candidate seeks to know better the One who calls him/her and on
whom he/she put faith in. He/she wants to understand better what He
has revealed to him/her.
d) In other words, faith is the candidate’s response to the call or invitation of
God who reveals Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. Faith is a
personal acceptance of God in the person of Jesus Christ--- accepting Jesus
as Lord and savior.
: Faith is the candidate’s “please come in” to Jesus Christ who stands
at the door and knocks. It is coming to a personal relationship with
Jesus, and through Him, to God the Father.
: Faith is a decision to commit himself/herself to Jesus, and to follow
Him and His ways. It is a decision only possible through the Holy
Spirit.
: To those who accept Him and believe in His name, Jesus gives the
power to become children of God.
SECOND SESSION
Aim:
1. To enable the candidate of baptism to become aware of the basic doctrines and lifestyle of the people of God;
2. To give to the candidate a basic catechesis on the initiation sacraments.
A. Introduction
1. The Community of Believers
a) Faith is a personal act--- the free response of the human person to the
invitation of God who calls and reveals Himself. But faith is not an isolated
act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone! I respond to
God’s call personally but I also respond with others.
b) When I say; “I believe”, I do not say it in isolation, I say it with the whole
Church. It is the faith of the Church I personally profess. The Church is a
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community of believers.
c) It is through the Church that we receive faith and new life in Christ by
baptism. It is the Church that believes first, and so bears, nourishes and
sustains my faith.
: The believer has received faith from others and should hand it to
others. Each believer is thus a link in a great chain of believers. I
cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my
faith In help support others in faith.
d) In the rite of baptism, the minister asks: “What do you ask of God’s
Church?” And the answer is: “Faith.”
: Salvation comes from God alone; but because we receive the life of
faith through the Church, she is our mother. Because she is our
mother of our new birth, she is also our teacher in the faith.
e) Becoming a believer and being incorporated into the community of
believers demands a new way of living. It is a kind of lifestyle where the
believer joins the community of the baptized to a life of Worship,
Formation and Service.
Note: It is good for the one giving the instruction to give here a brief
description of the BEC as the new way of being Church.
b) But while all life must be worship, we need to express our worship in explicit acts:
: Personal Prayer - "Unless we pray we cannot grow in our personal
relationship with God (PJP II).
- Jesus spent hours in prayer communicating with His
Father
: Group Prayer - Sunday Prayer Meetings, Bible Sharing, charismatic
groups, block rosary, etc
: I Believe - The christian prays what he believes. The creed is a prayer that
(Creed) summarizes what we believe in.
: Act of Contrition
- The Christian realizes that he is a sinner. Therefore in need of
God's forgiveness and strength. He expresses this need in this
prayer.
d) Our life of worship and our life of prayer find their source and summit in the
Sacred liturgy - celebration of the sacraments especially the Eucharist.
: In the Eucharist the community of believers gather around the Lord who is
truly present in the assembly, present in the minister, in the Scriptural Word
read in the Church and most eminently in his Body and Blood.
: The center and life of the "gimong." Other prayers lead and flow from it.
2. Formation
a) Faith is a dynamic reality. It needs to grow. It is a life, and like all life, it cannot
remain static. The believer must strive to know Jesus and his values more, his
holiness, and to make them alive in his own life. In other words, to be formed according
to Jesus himself.
: To live as he loved, to be compassionate as he is compassionate
* The Beatitudes
- The beatitudes is a description of how those who positively responded
to the invitation will live. Hence, it describes a lifestyle, a mode of
relating with our fellowmen.
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b) Faith includes believing the words and accepting the teachings of Jesus. Trusting that he
has the words of eternal life. Whoever believes in Jesus must also strive to know and accept the
truths which he continues to teach through His Church.
: The believer must have an informed faith.
: Importance of knowing the meaning of the basic doctrines and teachings of the
Church, the sacraments, the Bible.
b) Expressing our faith through deeds of justice and love is urgent because the the exercise of
faith often seems to be restricted to the realm of religious activities and private morality.
: To promote human development, justice in society and peace is the task of the
baptized with the whole Church.
: Faith moves us to participate in the transformation of the world.
- Salvation from sin
- Liberation from everything oppressive to man
- Development of man in all his dimensions - personal and communitarian
c) Believing is also bearing witness. Our Lord enjoins us. Your light must shine before others
that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father (Mt. 5:16).
: The baptized joins the Church in her task of evangelization - announcing a message
of salvation.
: Hence, the need to pray daily "Forgive us our sins" and to seek reconciliation with
God and with the Chruch in the Sacrament of reconciliation.
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THIRD SESSION
Aim: To lead the adult to be baptized to a deeper understanding on the grace/blessings, duties and
responsibilities of a Christian he will receive in the sacraments of initiation.
THE SACRAMENTS OF INITION
* The sacraments of initiation - Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist lay the
foundations of every Christian life.
- The faithful are born anew by baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of
Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life.
BAPTISM:
A. Meaning:
* Word of GOD. Jn. 3: 1-6 ( Nicodemus)
- "....No one can enter into God's Kingdom without being
begotten of water and Spirit"
* Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the
Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments.
CONFIRMATION
The main effect of Confirmation is to strengthen and confirm the grace of Baptism
( CCC, 1302-3). This means a more intense sharing in the mission of Christ and of the
Church, empowering the confirmed to be public witnesses of the faith:
- witness to the Kingdom of God ;
- witness to Jesus the Christ, as the unique Savior of all;
- witness to the freedom from the slavery of sin brought by God's presence through
Christ and the Spirit
- witness to the love of God, Father, Risen Incarnate Son, and Spirit, by loving
service of others in the Spirit;
- witness to Christ's real presence in the Christian community, the people of God, the
Church.
ACTS 19: 1 - 7
Anointing with oil called chrism is a second sign of this sacrament. Ointments and oils were
commonly used in treating illnesses and in the physical therapy of athletes. The anointing of
confirmation signifies health and strength and causes spiritual health and strength in the
supernatural life of the recipient. (O.T. -oil is use to anoint a king or someone sent for a
mission).
THE EUCHARIST:
FRUITS OF RECEIVING COMMUNION
3. Reconciliation
- To reconcile and be reconciled is a major effect of the Holy Eucharist as the
" sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity" ( CCC, 1394,1398).
Without displacing in the the least the sacrament of Reconciliation, the
Eucharist thus constitutes the chief ordinary means of reconciliation in the Church. It
brings us together in the table of the Lord, uniting us in sharing food and drink in
a sacred meal hosted by Christ himself. The Eucharist thus " educates us in active love for
neighbor.
( For) if Christ offers himself equally to each one, it shows us what value each person,
our brother or sister, has in God's eyes. It makes us grow in awareness of the dignity
of each person .... (and) becomes the deepest motive of our relationship with our
neighbor."
At the holy table all differences of race or social class disappear ... The Eucharist
becomes the great instrument for bringing men closer to one another .... to establish
better relationship among ourselves, leading to recognition to one anotner's rights
and correspoding duties as well" (John Paul II, ND 1590).
REFERENCES:
FOURTH SESSION
Aim: To familiarize the candidate of baptism on the Rites of Adult Baptism , and to make clear to the
candidate of his duties and responsibilities as Christian as mentioned in the rites of baptism.