I have chosen to write on Baptism as a sacrament that I believe invites us to a deeper union with Christ. Baptism, like all of the other sacraments has both a visible sign (Opus Operatum) and also an interior action (Opus Operans) that is symbolized by the physical action of the actual baptism. It is this interior action (Opus Operans) that I propose, the deposit of saving grace and as Aquinas would say, the imparting of a baptismal character that allow Christians/Catholics to now participate, “incorporated” with Christ, in the life of the spouse (Church). As the foundational encounter with both Christ and his Church and with the imparted Character that Aquinas describes as having the following effect, “ This character is directed to what belongs to divine worship. Now this is one kind of manifestation of faith by external signs. Accordingly, the character must be found in the intellect where faith resides.” What I believe this means is that once a person has truly, faithfully and authentically received the salvific grace that baptism imparts, he simultaneously receives the character the Aquinas describes that if we were to believe his supposition to be true, would drive the newly baptized individual to pursue not only divine worship within the Church but also, a natural deepening of the deposit of faith that they have received via an intellect that is now infused with faith and thereby deepening the union with Christ as it is established via Baptism.
Furthermore, we need to also look in how the deposit of Charity, that many believe also comes with Baptism and understand how it also can deepen our union with Christ. Charity in the sense that O’Neill expresses it in the case of Baptism, is the love of our fellow man and our willingness to love and cooperate with others. He states, “ No limit can be set to the holiness of life to which the Christian is called in virtue of his baptism, nor, which is the same thing, to his concern for his fellow men.” That appears to be a pretty steep slope to climb in this day of political, racial, economic and gender divisions and yet, it is exactly what the term Catholic Social Teaching embodies. It is also one of the two Commandments that Christ makes of us as Christians on which “hang all the law and the prophets” When Charity toward our fellow man is combined with the love of God, there is no way that a man cannot be prayerful and through that prayer, deepen his relationship with God through Christ our redeemer. Love begets love and love of God and your fellow man begets holiness which is the desired end state for mankind.
To conclude, the Sacrament of Baptism is the beginning of our journey with Christ, it consummates our desire for Christ both internally and also externally in His earthly Church. It is the mustard seed that is planted in the new Christian where they are “incorporated” with both Christ and His Church. It is watered and fertilized with the Character Aquinas describes and the Charity that O’Neill describes. It is the beginning of a new life, where the old one has been left behind, but Baptism is only the first rung on the ladder of our Christian Journey. If we have truly received grace, charity and the character of Baptism, we will naturally seek to follow and imitate Christ in our daily lives. Without the imbuement of the Grace imparted at Baptism, sacramental and liturgical growth, the deepening of our union with Christ would not be possible. We would not be drawn through the other sacraments of Confirmation and Penance to arrive at the Holy Eucharist, which establishes complete union with Christ. O’Neill states, “To be saved is to have fellowship with Christ in and through the Church; and all that is in the Church is directed towards the Eucharist.” To be baptized, is to be “saved”, to receive the undeserved gift of grace and as such, as O’Neill points out, it is then to be directed by the Church to the Eucharist (either actually or in desire ). We are called by our Baptism to it. However, it is my opinion after reading O’Neill’s functional commentary on Aquinas’ account of the Sacraments, that when I kneel before the Eucharist for Adoration and I contemplate Christ and his sacrifice as a means of drawing nearer to him, “deepening my union” with him, I am also contemplating the gift of grace that my baptism imparted to me that allowed me to climb the sacramental rungs to be able to join with him in a more intimate manner over and over again at every Sunday in the Mass. As a protestant, the gift of grace did not have the value that it now has for me within the liturgical context of the Catholic Church. I did not see it as the jumping off point for the growth of my spiritual life, rather it was the end point that became over time a place of stagnation. The Sacraments are a journey of both personal and spiritual growth and they all begin with Baptism! Without the grace imparted at baptism, it would be impossible for individuals such as me, who come to the Church late in life to “discern the features of Christ in the doctrinal, juridical and liturgical organs of the Church” while being external to Her. It was only through the grace of Christ, via baptism that we were able to be called back to the Church and thereby not only deepen our union with Christ but, complete it in the manner in which have been sacramentally prescribed.