As Catholics, we all undergo the Sacraments of Initiation
(Baptism, Communion and Confirmation) but do we really
know enough about them? Find out if you're ready to match wits with best!
Click on your answer to see!
1. Let's start with infant Baptism. According to the Catechism, when parents choose a baptismal name for their baby it:
2. Speaking of sponsors - - or "godparents"- - how many are required for a child to be baptized?
3. We'll try another on godparents. A person can't be a sponsor if he or she:
4. At infant Baptism, water is the principal "sign." What else is used?
5. An adult who wants to be baptized in the Church goes through a parish program known as the RCIA. What do
those letters stand for?
6. The RCIA isn't just about Baptism, but a couple of other sacraments, too. What are they?
7. There's one other category of students in the RCIA, those who have been baptized in a Christian denomination
but not in the Catholic Church. If that's the case, the person:
8. Ordinarily, it's the Bishop who confirms, but as part of the RCIA, the pastor is given permission to do that. In
an emergency, who can baptize someone else?
9. The Church also teaches about two other kinds of Baptism. One is called "Baptism of desire". What's the other?
10. We've been quoting the new Catechism a lot. What does it have to say about limbo, the place where the souls
of unbaptized infants go?
11. How about an easy one? What New Testament figure is especially associated with Baptism?
12. We use the word Baptism to mean "initiate" or "welcome into." To what did the original Greek word refer?
13. At the time of the Apostles and in the early Church, how was Baptism administered?
14. This is your last question. When did the Church begin baptizing infants?
Let's end with one final quote from the catechism, a reminder that receiving this sacrament is only a beginning: " For all the baptized, children or adults, faith must grow after Baptism." We must nuture its growth after we pass through that gateway, after we enter that door.
Presented courtesy of The Catholic Digest, March 1997 article "Sacramental Insights" by Bill Dodds
Photos courtesy of Richard P. McBrien, Inside Catholicism: Rituals and Symbols Revealed