Baptismal Preparation
Session 1: Reflecting on Faith
Please reflect on the following questions to prepare for the first class.
1) What was your faith like growing up? How did you view God? What was the role of God in your life then?
2) How has your faith changed since you were a kid? What has remained constant? What is new? What was left behind?
3) What is the role of faith in your life now? How do you view God? What is His role in your life?
4) What sort of faith do you want for your child?
Session 2: On Baptism
Please watch the following videos. To help facilitate our discussion, answer the following questions. Don't worry about finding answers to the questions the first time you watch: time markers are given so that you can refer back to find the answers once you're done.
Sophia Sketchpad on Baptism
1) Grace is God's life: why are we born without God' grace in our souls? How did this happen? (1:20)
2) If we are children of Adam, how do we have any chance of entering Heaven? (2:22)
3) When a person is baptized, Heaven becomes attainable, but not a guarantee. They are faced with the same choice that Adam and Eve had: to choose sin and death or God's will and eternal life. Name two things a Christian should do in order to reach Heaven. (5:44)
Bishop Barron on Baptism
1) Bishop Barron says that Christianity is about more than being a nice person. (:30) According to Bishop Barron, what does it mean to be a Christian?
2) Bishop Barron says that we are born into a deeply dysfunctional environment that traces its roots back to the sin of Adam. (3:15) According to Bishop Barron, how is being born with original sin like a baby being born with an addiction? (3:55)
3) Bishop Barron describes baptism as the door to the spiritual life. In light of that, he says that the other sacraments make sense in the way in which they nourish or serve the life that we're given in baptism. (5:10) Describe the way in which one of the sacraments (the Eucharist, Penance, Confirmation, Marriage/Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick) nourishes the divine life we're given at baptism. (5:20)
The Chosen: John 3:16
1) Jesus speaks to Nicodemus repeatedly about His Kingdom. Christians understand that Jesus' Kingdom is in Heaven and His rule will extend over the earth at the end of time. What is the condition Jesus give Nicodemus for seeing this Kingdom? (2:30)
2) When Jesus speaks about being born again of water and the spirit, Christians understand that He is talking about being baptized. Nicodemus is confused about what being born again could mean. Think back to the Sophia Sketchpad video you already watched. What part of you (body or soul) is reborn in baptism? Why do you think Jesus uses the term "rebirth?" (3:00)
3) Jesus speaks with Nicodemus about how just as the seraph serpent was lifted up on the pole and those who looked on it lived, so too the Son of Man will be lifted up [on the cross] so that those who look to it may live. What kind of death did Jesus come to save us from? (5:35)