Why do we baptise our children as soon as possible?

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I am a Roman Catholic and my husband is not, but we were married in the church and we recently have had a little girl who is now almost four months old. My husband has no problem with raising her catholic but he doesn’t understand why I’m in such a hurry to have her baptised. She will be baptised this Feb. but I wanted it done within a month or two of her birth. He doesn’t understand why I’m in such a hurry to have her baptised and unfortunately I don’t know how to explain to him my beliefs and why it is so important. Could someone please explain why we believe in having our children baptised as soon as we possibly can?
 
Here is the 1950’s, pre-Vatican II answer: so if, God forbid, your baby passes away, she will not have original sin on her soul. We used to say those babies went to limbo. I guess this was especially important when the infant mortality rate was higher.

Now, I am sure that someone out here can give a better and truer theological explanation.
 
From Catholic Answers: catholic.com/library/infant_baptism.asp

Since the New Testament era, the Catholic Church has always understood baptism differently, teaching that it is a sacrament which accomplishes several things, the first of which is the remission of sin, both original sin and actual sin—only original sin in the case of infants and young children, since they are incapable of actual sin; and both original and actual sin in the case of older persons.

…

More detail is given in Luke’s account of this event, which reads: “Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God’” (Luke 18:15–16).

I urge you to read the entire link above, it’s very informative.
 
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mommy:
From Catholic Answers: catholic.com/library/infant_baptism.asp

Since the New Testament era, the Catholic Church has always understood baptism differently, teaching that it is a sacrament which accomplishes several things, the first of which is the remission of sin, both original sin and actual sin—only original sin in the case of infants and young children, since they are incapable of actual sin; and both original and actual sin in the case of older persons.

…

More detail is given in Luke’s account of this event, which reads: “Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God’” (Luke 18:15–16).

I urge you to read the entire link above, it’s very informative.
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Hi Mommy,
Excellent post!👍
 
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Mary1973:
Here is the 1950’s, pre-Vatican II answer: so if, God forbid, your baby passes away, she will not have original sin on her soul. We used to say those babies went to limbo. I guess this was especially important when the infant mortality rate was higher.

Now, I am sure that someone out here can give a better and truer theological explanation.
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While I’m sure that the poster didn’t intend their message to sound this way, it does smack a bit of “those awful old pre-conciliar days,” as opposed to the more enlightened period following the council.

The Church has never formally declared *or condemned *the theory of limbo. That is precisely what it is, however, a theory. It is somewhat unfortunate that as a theory it was so widely taught as to seem to necessitate belief (and so make the Church look like she was changing her mind). However, as the catechism instructs us to entrust the souls of the unbaptized, infants or otherwise to the mercy of God, that does not necessitate their admittance into the beatific vision. In fact, it leaves ample room for assent to the theory of limbo. Limbo was never intended to highlight the depravity of the human condition, rather, it meant to show how seriously the Church, and God takes baptism.

The initial question, however, can be answered in at least two ways. The first, and frankly the most likely for the poster as she herself does not know why she is in such a hurry to have the child baptized, is tied to the remission of original sin and the escape of limbo. The second and more nuanced position, and perhaps a way to reconcile both pre-conciliar and post-conciliar attitudes toward baptism might look something like this: by the remission of sin (both original and, if pertinent, actual) the Church initiates a person into God’s family. The person becomes a “son by adoption” and so is privileged to share in the infinite merits of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The desire to have a child baptized quickly, then, is identical to the desire to have people baptized as infants. As they are able to be baptized as infants, and as baptism is a most precious of gifts, then why would one wait to have it done? It ought to be done, then, in as reasonable time as possible.
 
Question: How soon do we take our children to the doctor for wellness checkups? Answer: Shortly after birth in most cases, and we make sure that they are prevented from getting illnesses by vaccinating them as early as just a few weeks old. Well, baptism is a vaccination for our spiritual wellbeing. We die to sin, and are raised to the newness of life. We are born again into the spirit of God’s loving grace and mercy when we are baptized. If we as parents are not willing to risk our child’s physical health by depriving them of an injection that will ensure their wellbeing, why would we consider risking their spiritual wellbeing through the grace of baptism. Each time we receive a sacrament, we are meeting Christ. The same Christ who reminds us over and over again, He who who comes to me will receive eternal life.
Just as God gives us the gift of life, God wants to give us the gift of faith. Our families want that same dream also. By baptism, the gift of faith is like a seed planted in fertile soil. With the combined love, teaching and the example of our families and our larger parish family, that seed of faith will be nourished and will grow.What is happening, however, is not for an individual alone. The significance of Baptism affects the whole community of the worldwide Christian family. As a newly baptized Catholics, we will grow dependent on many people. That’s why so many of us have felt compelled to respond to worldwide disasters like the recent tsunami. Parents and Godparents need to share with their growing children the very important gifts of example, faith and love. I pray that God will strengthen them for this very important commitment.
Remember this, when you do have your child baptized, this is a sacrament of initiation not graduation. This is just the first step in your committment in bringing that wonderful gift from God your child, to the fullness of life. Because inevitably, someday, God will ask you what did you do with this wonderful gift I have given you.
. 🙂 God bless you!
 
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Mary1973:
Here is the 1950’s, pre-Vatican II answer: so if, God forbid, your baby passes away, she will not have original sin on her soul. We used to say those babies went to limbo. I guess this was especially important when the infant mortality rate was higher.

Now, I am sure that someone out here can give a better and truer theological explanation.
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In the 1950’s, I’d been brought up believing that there was such a thing as Limbo. So I was surprised to learn about 20 years ago (myself) when I became a catechist that Limbo was never a teaching of the Church.

Our DRE at my parish informed me that the concept of “Limbo” came about by some theologians expressing a theology that is not Catholic. Those theologians were trying to deal with some way of God showing His mercy to a baby who died but had not been baptized yet. Those theologians were wrestling with how God’s mercy would be shown in these cases because it’s not the baby’s fault that he/she was not yet baptized when they died.

My DRE told me that these theologians did not have a good, solid grounding in the mystery of God’s mercy.

Also, the MAIN point to make here is that God loved us FIRST… not us loving God first.

The Sacrament of Baptism is not like graduating from school. It is a Sacrament with its own graces that comes from God.

I invite y’all to read these 2 tracts found at Catholic Answers on infant baptism –

INFANT BAPTISM
catholic.com/library/Infant_Baptism.asp

EARLY TEACHINGS OF INFANT BAPTISM
catholic.com/library/Early_Teachings_of_Infant_Baptism.asp

Please let us know how it goes…
 
to remove the stain of original sin, and to welcome them into the Church that Christ Started…

and, since the bible says sin won’t enter heaven, we usually try to do it with haste so as not to take a chance of there being an obstacle to the child in the event of a premature death…

better safe then sorry… besides, the church that Christ started recommends it… so why wait… 👍
 
Our DRE at my parish informed me that the concept of “Limbo” came about by some theologians expressing a theology that is not Catholic. Those theologians were trying to deal with some way of God showing His mercy to a baby who died but had not been baptized yet. Those theologians were wrestling with how God’s mercy would be shown in these cases because it’s not the baby’s fault that he/she was not yet baptized when they died.
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Your DRE is partly right, (in that Limbo does not have the status of a dogma) but neither has it been officially ruled out either. In fact, the question has never been definitively settled. The CCC says we have hope that God has a way to save unbaptized infants but the Church still maintains the ordinary necessity of baptism.
I predict that there will be further development of doctrine (in an orthodox sense) in this matter .
On the other hand, I have no desire to denigrate the obvious theological abilities of many theologians who proposed Limbo as a possible reality.
 
Thanks to everyone who gave the educated answers. I hope the original poster is satisfied with the answers.
 
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