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LAWS - THE LAWS OF ALMIGHTY GOD

"Teacher, what must I do...?"

THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS

The Sacraments of Christian Initiation

The sacraments of Christian initiation Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist, lay the foundations of every Christian life. "The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life. The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. By means of these sacraments of Christian initiation, they thus receive in increasing measure the treasures of the divine life and advance toward the perfection of charity."

THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM

Holy 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. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons and daughters of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word."

The sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out: to baptize means to "plunge" or "immerse"; the "plunge" into the water symbolizes the catechumen’s burial into Christ’s death, from which he rises us by resurrection with him, as "a new creature."

This sacrament is also called, "the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit," for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one "can enter the kingdom of God."