Posted Sunday January 30, 2012 Book: Catholic Update guide to Baptism Editor: Mary Carol Kendzia St. Anthony Messenger. Cincinnati, OH. 2012. pp. 53 An Excerpt from the Jacket: What is baptism? Why is it critical to our faith? How does it bring about new spiritual life? When you affirm your baptismal promises at Mass, do you grasp the full commitment of those vows? The first sacrament of initiation is not just a one-time event, but an invitation to a lifelong journey of Christian discipleship. Drawing on the trusted and popular Catholic Update newsletter, the Catholic Unpdate Guide to Baptism will answer your questions about Baptism. Whether you were baptized as an infant or as an adult, this guide will help you fully understand and accept God’s call to be renewed in faith and love. An Excerpt from the Book: Broadening Our View of Baptism The ritual of Baptism does not bring God’s love into being as if that love did not exist before the ceremony. Baptism is the Church’s way of celebrating and enacting the embrace of God who first loved us from the moment of our conception. Baptism is a ritualization and manifestation of something real --- of the outpouring of God’s Spirit and of our acceptance of that transforming love. It remains for us to grow into what we already are: daughters and sons of God. Baptism celebrates a family’s and a community’s experience of that love in the baptized. There are other life experiences --- birth, death, washing, growing, and so forth --- that are celebrated in Baptism. The sacrament is multifaceted, as is revealed in the Scripture references and the symbols of Baptism. Table of Contents: What is the sacrament of baptism? The “Why” of baptism How we receive the sacrament of baptism Conclusion