What do you think of when you hear this Sunday’s gospel of the Presentation of Jesus? Do you picture a baptism you’ve attended? If you’re new to the faith, maybe you reminisce about your own baptism.

Our faith has such a rich history with such meaningful traditions. Nothing is done by accident or without cause. Everything has a purpose. One of the best things you can do for your spiritual growth is to seek out the reason of why we do what we do.

Let’s take a look at the difference between the Presentation of Jesus and the baptisms we do now today…

The presentation of a baby is an Old Testament tradition. In a presentation of a baby, parents and family step forward and declare before God that they will raise the baby according to God’s Word and God’s ways.

Our Sacrament of Baptism, however, takes it a step further. Remember that Jesus came to fulfill the laws of the Old Testament, not to trash it and start from scratch. In the gospel of Matthew 28:19, Jesus is ascending into Heaven and commands the disciples…

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matt 28:19)

In Baptism we:

Are washed clean of the Original Sin - Disobedience to God - of Adam and Eve that we are all born with.
Declare that we believe in the Trinity - 3 persons but only 1 God. Other faiths will baptize in the name of Jesus, or in the name of Father. In this instance, if they were to convert to Catholicism, they would need to be re-baptized in the name of the Trinity.
Are washed clean once. Other religions practice regular baptisms whenever they want to rededicate their life to God. Imagine needing to bleach clean a shirt. From then on you only need to spot clean and wash regularly. You don’t need to bleach the shirt every time after you wear it. Catholics have the gift of Confession. Confession gives us the opportunity to wash clean our dirty souls. It’s like a nice hot shower for the soul instead of cleaning off with a pressure washer!
(stay tuned for an article on the ins and outs of Confession!)

Another big difference in the presentation of a child, more often than not, a godparent is chosen only with the responsibility of taking care of the child should anything happen to the parents.
A Catholic godparent is someone who is practicing Catholic (attends Mass every Sunday, frequents the Sacrament, has an active prayer life, etc) that is willing to be there to help form the child in the faith when the child has questions but doesn’t necessarily want to go to the parent. It takes a village after all!

Scripture for Further Reflection

“Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” - Acts 2:38-42
“Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.” - John 3:4-8
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” - Romans 6:1
Access the free online Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition of the Bible here
Find even more scripture on Baptism at Scripture Catholic!